May 2021 Toronto Rent Report

It’s May and the Toronto rental market is experiencing quite the shakeup. Although it’s still not quite as expensive to rent as Vancouver, rent is starting to trend upwards in the city after a long period of declining rents.

We’re liv.rent, a rental platform with digital and automated solutions for renters and landlords. Every month, we create these rent reports to share with our community an accurate look at the real cost of rent in Toronto.

You can get the latest updates on the Toronto rental market straight to your inbox when you subscribe to keep on top of the trends.

The data in the report is primarily from our own platform and it has been supplemented with data collected manually from other listings sites in Canada. This report and the rental trends herein are created to help our liv.rent tenants and landlords make informed and empowered decisions.

Here are the reported average rent prices for May across the Greater Toronto Area:

Jump to the following Toronto Rent Report sections:

May 2021 Toronto rent trends

Take a look at our chart and see how from December 2020 to April 2021, rental averages for a one-bedroom unfurnished apartment in Toronto were sluggishly trudging downwards.

Then, with the arrival of May, rent has spiked back to the same levels we saw in December and January. This is on par with what we anticipated to happen Toronto rental market for 2021, although the turnaround is pretty dramatic as we move towards the end of the second quarter.

Month-to-month rent change

Let’s take a look now at the exact percentage change in rent across the different Toronto neighbourhoods and see how it’s changed from April 2021 to May 2021.

Unfurnished Toronto rent trends

For the month of May, unfurnished rentals in Toronto went up almost across the board in each neighbourhood. It went up between three and five percent in Downtown, North York, Etobicoke, and Scarborough.

Furnished Toronto rent trends

Furnished rent in Toronto has split down the board in May. It went up in half of the neighbourhoods and down in the other half. The most dramatic changes were in North York where it went up by +6.63% and in Brampton where it declined by -4.32%.

Toronto furnished vs. unfurnished averages

There’s a pretty close gap between furnished and unfurnished rental averages in Toronto right now. For example, a furnished one-bedroom apartment is around $60 more expensive for monthly rent than an unfurnished unit.

This strange gap could be explained by the recent unfurnished rent spike in Toronto, where it went from $1,666 in April to $1,704 in May.

Neighbourhood breakdown

As expected, the most affordable GTA neighbourhood is Brampton while the most expensive is Downtown.

In Brampton, an unfurnished one-bedroom goes for $1,475 on average, while in Downtown Toronto, the same kind of unit will go for $1,786 — a difference of $311.

Next, let’s look at the entire GTA to see the average rental rates broken down by listing type: one-bedroom, two-bedroom, and three-bedroom units, both for unfurnished and furnished.

Key takeaways:

• Comparatively, Scarborough’s two-bedroom unfurnished units are quite affordable
• North York is the second most expensive neighbourhood for unfurnished one-bedrooms
• The cost of a furnished one-bedroom in Brampton is the same as an unfurnished unit

Average rent in Canada

By just a small amount, Vancouver is still the most expensive city to rent in Canada. The difference is so mitigable that it could change at any time, especially now that Toronto’s rent is rising again.

Downloadable resources

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Subscribe to receive these monthly updates on the Toronto rental market. Discover last month’s Rent Reports below:

April 2021 Vancouver Rent Report
April 2021 Toronto Rent Report
April 2021 Montreal Rent Report

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COVID-19 resources 

For information regarding COVID-19, refer to these comprehensive resource posts. They include information on the various federal and provincial assistance initiatives available to help support landlords (small business relief) and tenants (rent relief):

• Coronavirus (COVID-19) Canada – Support For Landlords
• Tips for Moving During the COVID-19 Pandemic
• Renting: changes during COVID-19

Renting in Ontario

For information on renting in Ontario, refer to these resource posts about leases and evictions.

• Ontario Standard Lease Explained
• Frequently Asked Questions: Everything You Need to Know About Eviction in Ontario