Renters in Toronto are facing a market where the company that owns the building can matter more than the location or size of the unit. A study of roughly 1,600 apartment buildings in the Greater Toronto Area found that corporate landlords charged rents 44 per cent higher than the average for the same housing types with other landlords between 2022
You find a listing online. The photos are sharp. The kitchen is staged. The living room floods with afternoon light. It looks like a no-brainer. Then the buyer visits, walks through, and walks away. Not because of anything wrong with the home — but because the market has changed the rules of the game. In 2026, a growing number of
In Vancouver, owning a home costs $2,440 more per month than renting one. In Toronto, the monthly premium to own runs $2,420. These aren’t isolated cases. A growing number of Canadian cities now show a clear financial edge for renters, and the list keeps getting longer. Only two cities in the country — Regina and Winnipeg — still make buying
In British Columbia, a landlord can enter your rental unit for a condition inspection once a month—with written notice between 24 hours and 30 days in advance, between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. That single inspection can set off a chain of consequences that many tenants don’t see coming. Disclosure: Some links on this page are affiliate links. If you
About 60% of outstanding Canadian mortgages — roughly 1.2 million loans — will renew by the end of 2026, according to the Bank of Canada. Many of those were locked in at 1% to 2% during the pandemic and are now rolling over at 4% to 5%. For a landlord with a $400,000 mortgage, that means an extra $400 to
The average Canadian condo corporation saw its insurance premium jump by 40 per cent in 2020. That figure from ACERA captures a trend that has only accelerated since. When you combine rising construction costs, a global reinsurance pullback, and back-to-back years of record wildfire and flood damage, the result is a condo insurance market that confuses owners and investors alike.
A home appraisal comes back in 48 hours. That sounds like good news — faster closing, less waiting. But in the Canadian housing market, speed can be a warning sign. The average appraisal takes 7 to 10 days from start to finish, and a report that lands in two days may mean the appraiser didn’t spend enough time on the
Only $33 separates the average monthly rent for a furnished one-bedroom in Toronto from an unfurnished one — $1,983 against $1,950. That gap has narrowed sharply in the past year, and in some GTA neighbourhoods, furnished units now cost less than their bare counterparts. At a time when 70% of Canadian renters say high rent is their biggest challenge, the
When a real estate agent represents both the buyer and the seller in the same deal — known as dual agency — the total commission can run between 3.5% and 5.0% of the sale price, depending on the market. In Toronto, that means a £20,000 to £25,000 payout on a £500,000 home. But the bigger question isn’t what the agent
Imagine buying a home and inheriting a mortgage rate of 1.84% when new five-year fixed rates sit at 4.04% — that alone could save you roughly $11,400 over 18 months on a $500,000 balance. That is the promise of an assumable mortgage in Canada’s 2026 market. But the catch is bigger than most buyers expect. The equity gap, lender approval
You budget $45,000 for a kitchen renovation. Mid-range materials, new cabinets, new counters, keep the same footprint. Then the contractor opens the walls and finds knob-and-tube wiring that needs replacing, a plumbing vent routed through a stud bay that doesn’t meet code, and a floor joist that was cut to run an old dryer duct. The electrician alone costs $4,800.
Canada’s national vacancy rate hit 3.1% in 2025, the highest in four years, according to the liv.rent 2026 Rental Market Trend Report. That single number tells you the rental market has shifted. Landlords who once had dozens of applicants per unit now face more competition to fill their properties. Asking rents are dropping in Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, and Ottawa. And
