Saskatoon rental market data
Saskatoon’s rental market eased more than CMHC expected in the October 2025 survey. Vacancy in apartments of three or more units climbed to 3.3% from 2.0%, though CMHC says that is still well under the average of the past decade. The 2-bedroom rent across the units CMHC surveys averaged $1,548, up from $1,471, and the same units cost 5.2% more than a year before, a smaller increase than the 7.2% of the previous survey. For how these numbers are collected, see the Canada rental market page.
Average rent by bedroom type
| Unit type | Average rent paid, all tenants (October 2025) | Average asking rent, new tenants (second quarter of 2026) |
|---|---|---|
| Bachelor / studio | $986 | $1,140 |
| 1 bedroom | $1,263 | $1,340 |
| 2 bedroom | $1,553 | $1,620 |
| 3 bedroom+ | $1,737 | $2,020 |
The first column is CMHC's average for occupied units in apartment buildings of six or more units, so it includes long-term tenants paying below-market rents. The second is Statistics Canada's average of listed rents, closer to what you'd be quoted if you moved now.
Rent and vacancy by survey zone
CMHC’s Saskatoon zones cover the city and a small outlying area (October 2025, privately initiated apartments in buildings of three or more units).
| Saskatoon zone | Vacancy rate | A year earlier | Average 2-bedroom rent | Average rent, all units | Units in the survey |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Central | 3.3% | 1.7% | $1,570 | $1,339 | 2,258 |
| South | 3.7% | 2.8% | $1,596 | $1,412 | 4,467 |
| Southeast | 4.2% | 2.0% | $1,595 | $1,532 | 2,593 |
| Northeast | 3.0% | 1.0% | $1,674 | $1,606 | 3,014 |
| North | 2.1% | 1.9% | $1,514 | $1,435 | 1,262 |
| Southwest | 4.4% | 4.4% | $1,147 | $1,094 | 1,680 |
| West | 2.0% | 0.8% | $1,514 | $1,464 | 2,602 |
| Saskatoon City (Zones 1-7) | 3.3% | 2.0% | $1,545 | $1,434 | 17,876 |
| Outlying areas | 0.9% | not published | $1,722 | $1,663 | 295 |
| Saskatoon CMA | 3.3% | 2.0% | $1,548 | $1,438 | 18,171 |
Source: CMHC Rental Market Report data tables, Saskatoon workbook. “Not published”: CMHC suppressed the figure or rated it poor (use with caution).
The Southwest zone stands apart: its 2-bedroom rent of $1,147 was the lowest of the city zones, $527 a month under Northeast, the highest, and its vacancy rate, 4.4%, was the highest in the city. Southeast vacancy went from 2.0% to 4.2% and South from 2.8% to 3.7%: those two zones took most of the year’s new construction, CMHC says. In Northeast the rate rose to 3.0% from 1.0%, and West, at 2.0%, had the lowest rate among city zones.
What is driving Saskatoon rents
CMHC’s 2025 Rental Market Report explains the jump in vacancy as supply running ahead of demand. Purpose-built supply grew 4%, faster than the year before, with almost half the new units 2-bedrooms, while lower immigration and weak youth employment slowed the growth in renters. Vacancies rose most in higher-priced units; the cheapest units stayed hardest to find, a sign of strong demand for affordable housing. Landlords with higher-end buildings offered more incentives. Rent growth slowed in most zones, most of all in the South, Northeast and North, but it stayed well above the average of the past decade, and CMHC still calls affordability a challenge because rents grew faster than wages.
Rented condos were scarce. Their vacancy rate was 0.8%, and the share of condo apartments offered for rent slipped to 28.4% from 30.1% even as the condo stock grew; a rented condo 2-bedroom averaged $1,590.
New tenants vs sitting tenants
Fewer Saskatoon renters moved: the turnover rate dropped to 19.3% from 28.6%, a fall CMHC calls significant. Its explanation is the cost of moving: within the same buildings, units that changed tenants rented for 7% more on average than units that didn’t. Across the whole CMA the averages are closer, because they mix buildings of different ages: $1,556 for a 2-bedroom with a new tenant against $1,533 for one without, and $1,440 against $1,424 over all unit sizes.
Vacancy rate trend
Saskatoon vacancy rate, apartments in buildings of 6+ units (CMHC, October each year)
Source: CMHC Rental Market Survey via Statistics Canada table 34-10-0127.
What rent costs relative to income
CMHC considers housing affordable when it costs less than 30% of before-tax household income, counting the rent (or mortgage payments, property tax and condo fees) plus electricity, heat, water and other municipal services. The figures here count the rent alone, so with utilities the income needed is higher. For the average Saskatoon 2-bedroom ($1,548) to take no more than 30% of income, CMHC’s affordability benchmark, a household would need $61,920 a year before tax. Half of households in the Saskatoon area (the census metropolitan area) had more than $89,000 in 2020, the income year the 2021 Census reported, so that threshold sits 30% below the median, bearing in mind the income figure is older than the rent. Asking rents in Saskatoon were rising in the latest quarter: Statistics Canada’s 2-bedroom asking rent was $1,620 in the second quarter of 2026, 5.2% higher than a year earlier, and needs $64,800 of income on the same test. The rent affordability calculator handles other cases.
How Saskatoon compares
On CMHC’s three-units-and-over basis, Saskatoon’s 2-bedroom average was 0.1% below the Canadian $1,550, 7% above Saskatchewan’s $1,451 and 5% above Regina’s $1,473. Of the 43 centres in CMHC’s table, it was 21st-lowest. The vacancy rate of 3.3% compares with 3.4% province-wide and 3.1% nationally, and turnover of 19.3% with 12.8% for Canada.
Rules on rent increases in Saskatoon
Saskatchewan has no limit on rent increases, but in a periodic (month-to-month, for example) tenancy most landlords need 12 months' notice. In such a tenancy they can’t raise rent in the first 18 months, and can raise it once every 12 months; members of a prescribed landlord association give 6 months’ notice. A fixed-term lease follows its own terms: the landlord serves notice of new terms at least 2 months before it ends. In Saskatchewan a security deposit can be no more than one month's rent, and the landlord can require only half of it when the tenancy starts, the rest within two months; to keep any of it, the landlord claims it within seven business days of the tenancy ending through the Office of Residential Tenancies.
The Saskatchewan rental market page has the complete rules, including fixed-term leases; for other provinces see rent increase rules by province, and for deposits how to get a security deposit back.
Related pages
- Regina Rental Market: the provincial capital’s zones and rents
- Saskatchewan Rental Market: the province against Canada
- Saskatoon Housing Market: home prices for a rent-or-buy comparison
- Income in Saskatoon: household income data
- Edmonton Rental Market: the nearest large Alberta market
Sources
- CMHC Rental Market Report data tables, Saskatoon workbook: vacancy, rent and units by zone
- CMHC Rental Market Report data tables, Canada workbook: CMAs and provinces, turnover rents, rented condominiums
- CMHC 2025 Rental Market Report: Saskatoon commentary
- Statistics Canada table 34-10-0133 and 34-10-0127: rents and vacancy, apartment structures of six units and over
- Statistics Canada table 46-10-0092: asking rents
- Statistics Canada table 98-10-0061: census household income