June marked a continued intensification of the softening which has defined the Canadian rental market through the first half of 2026.
National rental demand weakened further in June, with active prospects declining 4.4% month over month, a much sharper drop than the nearly flat results recorded in April and May. Rather than the seasonal boost typically expected during the summer leasing season, June became the weakest month of the year for renter demand so far.
On an annual basis, active prospects were down 4.3%, matching May's year-over-year decline after April's brief return to growth. This reinforces that April was not the start of a sustained turnaround, but another step in the market's gradual and uneven stabilization.
Affordability pressures, tariff-related economic uncertainty, employment concerns, and weaker consumer confidence continue to weigh on renter mobility and decision-making. Through the first half of 2026, active prospects remain 2.4% below the same period in 2025, while available properties have increased 2.9%, suggesting that supply continues to expand while overall demand remains below last year's pace.
June's slowdown was not felt equally across the country. Among the top 50 rental markets, active prospects declined 4.4% month over month, while available properties increased 0.8%. The top 10 markets experienced a steeper monthly decline of 7.5%, but remained the only group to post positive annual growth, with active prospects up 6.6% year over year.
Eight of the top 10 markets are located in British Columbia and Alberta, continuing the regional pattern of stronger rental demand in Western Canada. Meanwhile, Montreal, Winnipeg, and Hamilton recorded some of the steepest declines, reinforcing that demand conditions continue to vary significantly from one market to another. As the summer leasing season continues, rental demand is expected to remain uneven and increasingly driven by local market conditions.
National Stats (Month-over-Month):
National Stats (Year-over-Year):
By Market Segment (Active Prospects, MoM):
Demand conditions across our top market in demand continued to further soften in June. Consistent with the national trend, active prospects declined by (-4.4%) monthly, while available properties grew by 0.8%. This resulted in a tighter overall market with average prospects per property down (-5.2%). The top 10 markets in demand posted a steeper monthly decline of (-7.5%) monthly in active prospects, with properties down (-2.4%) and prospects per property down (-5.2%). Although trends show shrinking supply, the continued decline in active properties suggests that there remains a cohort of prospective renters actively making rental decisions and enabling for availabilities to be absorbed into the market.
Month-over-month (M/M): Within our top 50 markets, demand scores were down -5.2% in June 2026 compared with May 2026. All three market segments posted declines in demand scores, alongside declining prospect counts; suggesting a more broad softening of rental demand nationally.
Year-over-year, our top 50 markets posted an average prospect decline of (-2.6%), while available properties grew 3.6%, drawing down average prospects per property by (-6.0%). The top 10 markets continued to outperform on an annual basis, with prospects up 6.6% and prospects per property up 38.8%, though this is due to a substantial drop in active properties (-23.2%) amongst the top 10 markets.
Demand scores across all three segments posted substantial annual gains this year, but these increases stem primarily from a lower demand score divisor applied in 2026 rather than a proportional acceleration in underlying renter activity.
Year-over-year (Y/Y): Within our top 50 markets, demand scores are up 34.2% in June 2026 compared with June 2025. Despite the scale of these annual demand score gains, underlying prospect activity tells a more measured story.
To provide a more detailed analysis of the rental demand in specific markets across Canada, we have segmented our market data into 3 key market segments.
Examining these market segments individually offers a deeper understanding of demand patterns within larger population centres, and allows us to identify trends across markets.
*Overall demand scores are down (-5.9%) month-over-month, unique prospects are down (-4.4%), and properties are up 1.6%.
Primary markets broadly softened in June, with seven of ten markets in our primary market rankings posting declines in monthly prospect counts. Edmonton led the segment with prospect growth of 5.0%, followed by Scarborough at 3.4% and a modest gain in Ottawa of 0.6%. Montreal recorded the steepest monthly decline in the segment (-18.8%), followed by Vancouver (-9.8%) and Calgary (-8.0%), reflecting a broad pullback among several of Canada's largest urban centres this month.
*Year-over-year demand scores are up 33.6%, prospects are down (-1.5%), and properties are up 5.3%.
Year-over-year comparisons for primary markets present a more measured picture than the segment's 33.6% demand score gain would suggest, with active prospects down (-1.5%) across the segment overall. Vancouver led annual prospect growth at 17.0%, followed by Mississauga at 9.3% and Calgary at 6.8%, continuing the trend of BC and Alberta markets leading in rental demand recovery and rebounding throughout 2026. Winnipeg posted the steepest annual decline at (-21.2%), followed by North York at (-19.4%) and Montreal at (-14.7%), underscoring that the segment's demand score gains of 33.6% reflect the lower 2026 demand score divisor rather than a broad-based improvement in renter activity.
*Secondary markets demand scores are down (-5.4%) month-over-month, unique prospects are down (-6.4%), and properties are down (-0.9%).
Secondary markets continue to post the largest monthly declines in active prospects of all market segments with active prospects declining by (-6.4%), and average prospects per property down by (-5.5%) monthly.
While this segment as a whole continues to trend downwards, there are two holdouts in June which have persisted including Windsor +15.9%, and Kitchener 7.8% up from May. Without these markets, the remaining secondary markets showed an average decline of (-8.5%) in prospects monthly. Laval and Oshawa recorded the steepest declines in June.
*Overall, year-over-year demand scores are up 32.2%, prospects are down (-14.0%), and properties are down (-4.4%).
Year-over-year comparisons for secondary markets show the widest gap between demand score performance, and the underlying prospect and property activity of any individual segment. With prospects down (-14.0%), and average prospects per property down by (-10.0%), demand scores continue to post annualized increases across the segment.
Although Kitchener and Windsor posted monthly growth, both of these markets saw declining prospect activity year-over-year. The two markets in this segment with annualized growth were Surrey 6.5%, and Victoria 4.9%. Conversely Hamilton reported the steepest declines of all secondary markets followed closely by Laval, Gatineau, and Brampton.
The strong annual demand score gains across secondary markets are better understood as stabilization against a weak prior-year baseline rather than a proportional improvement in underlying demand activity.
*Demand scores are down (-4.2%) month-over-month, unique prospects are down (-5.2%), and properties are down (-1.1%).
Tertiary markets showed the greatest resilience in June with approximately half of the markets in our tertiary market rankings posting monthly growth in active prospect counts.Kingston 13.0%, Abbotsford 8.3%, Richmond 7.3%, East York 2.9%, St. Catharines 2.8%, Saskatoon 1.4%,and Barrie 1.4% all posted month-over-month growth in prospects.Conversely Sudbury, Coquitlam, Burlington, and Burnaby posted the largest declines amongst tertiary markets.
*Overall, year-over-year demand scores are up 27.8%, unique prospects are down (-4.0%), and available properties are up 7.3%.
Tertiary markets experienced a softer annualized decline relative to secondary markets, but trail behind primary markets, and the average across the top 50 markets. Year-over-year, tertiary markets posted a prospect decline of (-4.0%) despite a 27.8% increase in demand scores across the segment, again reflecting the lower 2026 demand score divisor rather than a genuine acceleration in renter activity. Kelowna led annual prospect growth at 13.1%, followed by Abbotsford at 6.9% and Burnaby at 4.0%
June closed out the first half of 2026 with the weakest rental demand seen so far this year. National active prospects declined 4.4% month over month and 4.3% year over year, marking a clear shift from the relatively stable conditions seen in April and May. The slowdown was broad, with active prospects declining across primary, secondary, and tertiary markets, even as demand scores continued to show annual gains driven by the lower 2026 demand score divisor rather than stronger renter activity.
Through the first six months of the year, active prospects remain 2.4% below the same period in 2025, confirming that demand has yet to recover to last year's pace. At the same time, affordability pressures, tariff-related economic uncertainty, employment concerns, and weaker consumer confidence continue to limit renter mobility and slow leasing activity across much of the country. While British Columbia and Alberta continue to lead many of the strongest-performing markets, June reinforces that rental demand remains highly dependent on local market conditions rather than national trends.
What’s Next for Canadian Rental Demand?
The summer leasing season is expected to remain uneven, with some markets continuing to outperform while others face ongoing softness. Markets supported by stronger affordability and employment conditions, particularly in Western Canada, are better positioned to maintain demand, while several primary and secondary markets in Ontario and Quebec may continue to experience slower leasing activity.
For property managers and leasing professionals, June's results highlight the importance of looking beyond headline demand scores and focusing on the underlying prospect activity within each market. Understanding local demand trends, maintaining competitive pricing, and clearly communicating value will remain essential as market conditions continue to vary across the country.
To present this data, Rentsync has determined three key calculations for each area of the report, They are as follows:
Demand Score: Our demand score is rated out of 10 (with 10 being the highest score a city can receive), and is calculated based on unique leads per property, per city, and compared against benchmark data.
For Example: Kamloops, BC received a demand score of 8.2 this month, versus 5.3 last month. Kamloops experienced a 2.8-point increase in its demand score.
Demand Percentage (% +/-): This is determined according to the year-over-year (YOY) or month-over-month (MOM) increase or decrease in unique leads per property.
For Example: The month-over-month demand scores in Kamloops, BC, experienced a 53.1% increase in June 2026 May 2026. The year-over-year demand score in Kamloops was up 64% from June 2025.
Position: The position is determined by unique leads per property, with cities that have at least *20 properties or more. The position will vary depending on demand.
For Example: This month, Kamloops, BC, gained 18 positions to achieve the number positions in our Top Canadian Cities in Demand Rankings.
*This report provides month-over-month rental listing data for June 2026 versus May 2026 and a year-over-year comparison from June 2026 versus June 2025. It also outlines the month-over-month and year-over-year trends in primary, secondary, and tertiary markets.