March 2026 Ontario Rent Report

At a glance

• Larger units across the GTA recorded the steepest rent declines
  • Larger family-sized units saw the biggest rent drops across the GTA. On average, unfurnished two- and three-bedroom rents fell about 8% year over year, compared to about 7% for one-bedroom units. The largest drop was in Vaughan/Richmond Hill, where three-bedroom rents declined from $3,540/month in March 2025 to $2,933/month in March 2026/month (-17.2%).
    
• Scarborough recorded the largest decline in one-bedroom rents
  • Scarborough had the largest decline in one-bedroom unfurnished rents among Ontario neighbourhoods, falling from $2,129/month in March 2025 to $1,934/month in March 2026 (-9.2%). Other notable drops were seen in Etobicoke (-9.0%) and Oshawa (-8.8%), showing softer entry-level rents in parts of the region.
    
• Milton led early-year rent growth among Ontario markets
  • Milton recorded the biggest increase early this year, with one-bedroom unfurnished rents rising from $1,874/month in January 2026 to $2,012/month in March 2026 (+7.4%). Smaller increases were seen in Markham (+1.4%) and Scarborough (+1.3%), while several other markets saw slight declines.
    

We’re expanding the scope of our rent report! Starting this month, our Toronto Rent Report is now the Ontario Rent Report. We’ve begun adding more cities—beginning with Ottawa.

On December 10th 2025, the Bank of Canada announced that the interest rate would stay at 2.25%, closing out last year on a low trend. Experts predict the rate to hover around the same amount for 2026.

As of March 2026, the City of Toronto’s average monthly rent price for an unfurnished one-bedroom saw a YoY drop of $161 to a new monthly average of $1,972/month this month. Let’s take a look now at the latest data and see which neighbourhoods are experiencing the biggest changes in furnished and unfurnished rental rates.

Ontario rent trends

Compared to last month, the average rent price for an unfurnished one-bedroom unit in Toronto decreased by $19 this March to $1,972/month. The average rent for a furnished one-bedroom decreased by $36 since last month, bringing the rate to $1,957/month.

Planning on raising rent this year? Ontario’s Annual allowable rent increase limit for 2026 is 2.5%. Find out when and how you can increase rent and ensure you’re complying with provincial guidelines by reading our updated Guide to Ontario Rent Increases.

liv.rent’s 2026 Canada Rental Market Trends Report is launching soon, highlighting the key shifts shaping rental markets nationwide.

Month-to-month rent change

This chart breaks down the percentage change in rent prices across all GTA cities/municipalities between February and March 2026.

Unfurnished Toronto rent trends

For unfurnished one-bedroom units, Brampton (-5.41%), Etobicoke (-3.96%) and Markham (-2.16%) saw the largest decreases. Meanwhile, Scarborough (1.42%) saw a minor increase.

Furnished Toronto rent trends

This month, average rates for furnished one-bedroom units in the GTA saw some notable changes. Markham (-8.68%), Mississauga (-6.04%), and North York (-5.03%) saw notable decreases, while Vaughan-Richmond Hill saw a minor increase (1.30%).

Toronto furnished vs unfurnished averages

This month, prices for unfurnished one-bedroom units saw a decrease (-0.97%) to $1,972/month while furnished units decreased (-1.83%) to $1,957/month. The average furnished one-bedroom unit rents for $15 less than a one-bedroom unfurnished unit.

Rent per square foot

Our monthly Rent Reports also look more closely at the average rent per square foot in cities throughout the Greater Toronto Area. This March, North York ($3.93/sq. ft.) had the highest rent per square foot, followed by Etobicoke ($3.34/sq. ft.). At the other end of the spectrum, Brampton has the lowest rent per square foot ($1.44/sq. ft.).

Active listing data

We’ll also look at detailed statistics for currently active listings available to see which property types and number of bedrooms are the most represented. For renters, these numbers show which types of units you’re most likely to encounter in the Greater Toronto Area, while for landlords, you can assess how much competition you’ll face based on the current supply.

Active listings by property type

As of March 2026, the most common rental property type was apartments, representing the majority of all listings in the GTA at 38.01%. Partial houses were the second most common unit type this month, representing 34.77% of active listings, followed by houses at 16.10% and townhouses at 11.12%.

Active listings by number of bedrooms

In terms of the number of bedrooms, we saw a varied spread across active listings on the market this March. One-bedroom units were the most common type of listing in the GTA this month at 47.47%, while two-bedroom units represented 38.55% of the region’s active listings. Three-bedroom units made up the remaining 13.97%.

Looking for our full March 2026 Toronto Rent Report? Download your copy here to get all the latest insights, including a detailed breakdown by neighbourhood.

City breakdown

This March, Oshawa is the cheapest municipality to rent in out of the areas we look at for our Rent Reports, while Markham is the region’s most expensive place to rent this month.

The average rent price for an unfurnished one-bedroom unit in Markham currently stands at $2,128/month, while in Oshawa the same type of unit rents for an average of $1,614/month – a difference of $514 between the two.

With Ontario’s different communities being so diverse, we’re breaking down the GTA into its different cities and municipalities to see the price difference within listing types: one-bedroom, two-bedroom, and three-bedroom units, both unfurnished and furnished.

• All prices for unfurnished one-bedrooms decreased except in Scarborough and Vaughan-Richmond Hill.
• All furnished one-bedroom units decreased except for Etobicoke and Vaughan-Richmond Hill.
• All unfurnished three-bedroom units decreased in rental price

Rental averages for other Ontario cities

We’ve also looked at data from cities and municipalities in other regions within and surrounding the GTA. Looking at these additional cities, London is the least expensive to rent in March for one-bedroom unfurnished units at $1,526/month. Markham is the most expensive for unfurnished one-bedroom units at $2,128/month.

For complete data on these cities as well as other municipalities outside of the Greater Toronto Area, download our full report here to view the complete report.

Most expensive cities in Canada

This March, four of the country’s most expensive cities are located in Metro Vancouver. West Vancouver is the most expensive city in the country to rent in, followed by North Vancouver, Vancouver, and Burnaby. Markham, Ontario rounded out the list.

Downloadable resources

Our complete March 2026 Rent Report has information on even more key areas, broken down into region and unit type for a complete overview of rental averages in Ontario. To view these and all the other new information we’ve added, be sure to download your copy of the Rent Report below.

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Renting in Ontario

For more information on renting in Ontario, refer to these comprehensive resource posts:

• What’s A Standard Rental Application?
• What do you need when applying for a rental?
• What Can A Landlord Ask For On A Rental Application In Ontario?
• How Do I Fill Out A Rental Application?
• Ontario Standard Lease Explained
• Frequently Asked Questions: Everything You Need to Know About Eviction in Ontario

Data collection methodology

Our monthly rent reports use data from our own liv.rent listings, as well as data our team manually collects from other popular listing sites – looking at available basement suites, apartments, condos, townhouses, semi-detached houses, and single-detached houses for each area.

When collecting this data, we do exclude luxury properties listed at over $5,000, as well as rooms for rent and shared accommodation. Investing in manual data collection means that we only consider the current month’s listing, since we can filter out duplicate listings and older ads that haven’t been removed.

Another key difference between our data collection methods and some government agencies like the CMHC is that we only include current asking rent prices. Many official reports will include data for entire buildings in their reports, which tends to skew numbers lower since many units are already occupied, and may be rent-controlled or rented for significantly lower than the current rates.

As we are a Canadian rental platform founded and based in Vancouver, we want to ensure that we’re providing a completely accurate depiction of the rental market in the cities we look at.

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Vancouver Rent Report
Ontario Rent Report
Montreal Rent Report
Calgary and Edmonton Rent Report