Rents under $1,150 have become a rare commodity

Affordable housing is a rare commodity in Quebec, particularly in Montreal, where rents below $1,150 are almost non-existent despite the construction of new housing.

“It’s dramatic. There is very little affordable housing left and almost none in Montreal. It is urgent to protect them, because rents are increasing at lightning speed,” says Véronique Laflamme, spokesperson for the Popular Action Front for Urban Redevelopment (FRAPRU).

Across the country, the average housing price continues to skyrocket despite housing starts in recent years, according to the rental market report from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) released.

New housing is “relatively expensive” and aimed at higher-income households, while affordable housing is in short supply, the report notes.

In Montreal, for example, the average rent for a two-bedroom rental unit reaches $1,176, an increase of 6.3% compared to 2023.

Two price ranges, two realities

Good luck finding an apartment below $1,150, a price range for which the vacancy rate is less than 1%.

However, the vacancy rate reaches 5% for rents starting from $1,675 in the metropolis.

This gap in availability between affordable and more expensive rents is observed in all major centers in Quebec.

“The more you go to the lower rent ranges, the less choice there is on the market and the more you go to the high rent ranges, the more choice there is,” summarizes Francis Cortellino, economist at CMHC.

For the first time since the start of the pandemic, the vacancy rate increased slightly across the province, going from 1.3 to 1.8%, due to the construction of new housing, but also of the decline in population growth.

Also in the region

Véronique Laflamme is worried about seeing rents jump in cities where the population is poorer and rents were historically lower, such as in Saguenay, Chicoutimi and in downtown Trois-Rivières.

She asks the Legault government to include at least 10,000 non-profit housing units out of the 56,000 new housing units per year planned in the Quebec Housing Strategy.

“We are not building enough, the government must take note,” she believes.

Montreal: more expensive in the city center

In greater Montreal, it costs on average $1,176 for a two-bedroom apartment and the vacancy rate reaches 2.2%.

It is in the city center that the proportion of vacant housing is highest, but it is also where rents are the most expensive.

New housing is having difficulty finding buyers due to the increase in construction costs which is reflected in rental prices, notes the CMHC.

Gatineau: $2,249 for a 4 and a half in Aylmer

Champion of increases in recent years, Gatineau recorded an average rent increase of 2.5% for a two-bedroom apartment this year, which now reaches $1,353 per month.

On the other hand, rent prices are much higher in the Aylmer sector, which accounts for more than half of new housing. We pay on average $2,249 for a two-bedroom apartment. The vacancy rate is also the highest in the region, at 3.7%.

Quebec: a vacancy rate of less than 1%

In 2024, the rental vacancy rate remained historically low in the capital region, at 0.9%.

The average rent for a two-bedroom unit is now $1,159, up 5.2% from last year.

The housing supply has increased on the South Shore where recent housing now represents one in five units. But the rents for these new homes are much higher, on average $1,557.