Sunnyside CTrain Station puts renters in the heart of Kensington, Calgary’s most walkable inner-city shopping strip, with the Red Line to downtown a few minutes away and the Bow River pathway at the door. This guide covers seven rental buildings within a 10-minute walk of the platform, what they cost as of September 2026, and how Alberta’s rent-increase rules apply to anyone signing a lease in the area.
What’s it like to rent within a 10-minute walk of Sunnyside CTrain Station?
At 7:52 a.m. on 10A Street NW, a renter locks her apartment door, passes a coffee roaster still setting out its sandwich board, cuts by a used bookstore and a bakery with the ovens already going, and reaches the Sunnyside CTrain platform with two minutes to spare. That walk, door to platform, past a working strip of independent shops rather than a parking lot, is what separates renting near this station from renting near most other Calgary LRT stops. Sunnyside CTrain Station sits on the Red Line on the north bank of the Bow River, directly across from downtown, in the Kensington shopping district shared by the Hillhurst and Sunnyside communities, and the rental buildings near Sunnyside CTrain Station worth knowing about are almost all inside that same 10-minute walk.
For renters weighing that walk against a cheaper commute elsewhere, the citywide numbers matter. Calgary’s average furnished one-bedroom rented for $1,539 in September 2026, against $1,442 unfurnished, a $97 gap, according to liv.rent‘s September 2026 Calgary and Edmonton rent report (https://liv.rent/blog/rent-reports/september-2026-calgary-edmonton-rent-report/). Kensington’s rental stock leans toward older, unfurnished low-rise walk-ups rather than new furnished towers, which puts most of the buildings in this piece closer to the lower end of that spread.
What makes Kensington’s rental market different from other inner-city Calgary nodes?
Kensington is a Business Revitalization Zone anchored at 10th Street NW and Kensington Road NW, home to more than 200 independent shops, restaurants, and pubs rather than national chains, according to the Kensington Business Revitalization Zone (https://www.kensingtonyyc.com/getting-to-kensington). That density of local business, built around commercial blocks dating to before the First World War, is why renters pick the streets around Sunnyside Station over similarly transit-connected but more commercial or campus-driven Calgary nodes.
The other draw is the river. Sunnyside and Hillhurst back directly onto the Bow River pathway system, which climbs McHugh Bluff on one end and crosses the Peace Bridge into downtown on the other, so a renter here can walk or cycle to work without touching a car lane. Kensington also runs its own annual events, including the Sun and Salsa Festival each July and Christmas in Kensington Village each December, the kind of recurring street life that a retail strip built around a station parking lot does not generate.
Where exactly is Sunnyside CTrain Station, and how do you get there?
Sunnyside CTrain Station is a Red Line stop on 9A Street NW near 4th Avenue NW, one block east of 10th Street NW, Kensington’s main commercial spine. It opened in 1987 as part of Calgary Transit’s original Northwest LRT line and puts downtown Calgary a few minutes away across the Bow River, with local bus routes also serving the wider Hillhurst-Sunnyside area, according to Calgary Transit (https://www.calgarytransit.com/).
Because the station sits right at the edge of Sunnyside, a community bounded by Centre Street to the east and 10th Street NW to the west, nearly every building in this piece falls inside a genuine 10-minute walk of the platform, not the wider stretch of 10th Street NW that runs north toward SAIT and Jubilee Station one stop up the line.
Which rental buildings are the best picks within a 10-minute walk of Sunnyside Station?
Seven buildings stand out within an easy walk of the Sunnyside platform, from a riverside walk-up named for the neighbourhood itself to low-rise apartments tucked a block or two off Kensington’s main shopping strip. One, Kensington Apartments, is listed on liv.rent; the other six are drawn from current Calgary rental listings and property records for the Hillhurst-Sunnyside area.
| Building | Address | Building type | Listed on liv.rent |
| Kensington Apartments | 1440 Memorial Drive NW | Low-rise walk-up | Yes |
| KIT | 301 9A Street NW | Low-rise apartment | No |
| 901 on 4th | 901 4th Avenue NW | Low-rise apartment | No |
| Sunnyside Gardens | 727 1st Avenue NW | Walk-up apartment | No |
| Aspen and Bow | 1150 Memorial Drive NW | Low-rise apartment | No |
| 416 on 7th | 416 7th Street NW | Low-rise apartment | No |
| The Victoria on 5th | 1124 5th Avenue NW | Low-rise apartment | No |
Kensington Apartments, 1440 Memorial Drive NW
Kensington Apartments (https://liv.rent/building/35182/kensington-apartments-apartment-building-1440-memorial-drive-nw-calgary-ab) is a fully renovated, pet-friendly walk-up just steps from the Bow River pathway, and it is the one building on this list literally named for the neighbourhood it sits in. Units run from compact one-bedrooms with fridge, stove, heat, and water included, priced from around $1,250 a month as of September 2026, according to the building’s own listing with property manager Mainstreet Equity (https://www.mainst.biz/apartments/calgary/kensington-apartments).
KIT, 301 9A Street NW
The shortest walk to the platform on this list belongs to KIT, a newer low-rise a block from the trains with a mix of studio, one-bedroom, and two-bedroom suites. Its property manager, JEMM Properties, lists the building as “Kit at Kensington,” 158 units over sixteen storeys (https://jemm.ca/community/kit-at-kensington/), but does not publish current pricing online; call ahead for availability and rent.
901 on 4th, 901 4th Avenue NW
Renters who want to be right at the station’s eastern crossing can look at 901 on 4th, a low-rise set among Sunnyside’s mix of early-1900s houses and newer infill. Its property manager, Petwin Properties, markets the building under its older name, Metropole Apartments, with one and two-bedroom units from roughly $1,250 to $2,100 a month as of September 2026 (https://petwin.com/residential-rentals/calgary-properties-for-rent/).
Sunnyside Gardens, 727 1st Avenue NW
For renters who want Kensington’s walkability without living directly above the retail noise, Sunnyside Gardens sits on a quiet residential block closer to the river than the shopping strip. Its property manager, Avenue Living, lists one-bedroom units at $1,530 and two-bedroom units at $1,699 a month on a twelve-month lease, current as of September 2026 (https://www.avenueliving.ca/apartments-for-rent/sunnyside-gardens).
Aspen and Bow, 1150 Memorial Drive NW
Cyclists and river-pathway regulars tend to gravitate toward Aspen and Bow, a low-rise with direct access to the Bow River pathway for the ride or walk to the station. Its developer and manager, Anthem Properties, confirms the address and a one to three-bedroom mix on its own leasing site (https://aspenandbowbyanthem.com/) but does not publish rent online; contact the building directly for current pricing.
416 on 7th, 416 7th Street NW
A few doors from Kensington’s restaurant row and still a short walk from the platform, 416 on 7th is managed by Petwin Properties under its older name, Sunnybrae Apartments, with one to three-bedroom units from roughly $1,450 to $1,850 a month as of September 2026 (https://petwin.com/residential-rentals/calgary-properties-for-rent/).
The Victoria on 5th, 1124 5th Avenue NW
On the Hillhurst side of the 10th Street NW divide sits The Victoria on 5th, a named low-rise for renters who want a quieter residential block that still puts Kensington’s shops and the station within easy walking distance. Its property manager, unitiiPM, markets it as “Vic on Fifth” and lists a one-bedroom, one-bathroom unit at $2,150 a month, available now as of September 2026 (https://www.unitiipm.com/residential/viconfifth).
What are Alberta’s rent increase rules for renters near Sunnyside Station?
Alberta sets no legislative cap on how much a landlord can raise the rent. For a monthly periodic tenancy, a landlord must give at least three full tenancy months’ written notice, and rent cannot be increased during a fixed term or until at least 365 days have passed since the tenancy began or since the last increase, under Alberta’s Residential Tenancies Act, as explained by the Centre for Public Legal Education Alberta (https://www.landlordandtenant.org/notices/rent-increase/).
This is general information, not legal advice. Renters and landlords in Alberta with a specific rent increase dispute can apply to the province’s Residential Tenancies Dispute Resolution Service (RTDRS) rather than the courts.
How does Kensington rent compare with the rest of Calgary right now?
Rents around Sunnyside Station tend to track closer to Calgary’s $1,442 average unfurnished one-bedroom than its $1,539 furnished average, per liv.rent‘s September 2026 rent report, a reflection of Kensington’s older, mostly unfurnished walk-up stock. That gap holds even as Calgary’s rental vacancy rate held stable at 5.0% in 2025 and new purpose-built rental supply grew at its fastest pace in decades, though most of that new supply landed in higher-end segments rather than older inner-city buildings like the ones near Sunnyside Station, according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (https://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/media-newsroom/news-releases/2025/canadas-vacancy-rate-rises-amid-historically-high-rental-construction).
Renters comparing Kensington against other transit-connected Calgary neighbourhoods can browse more neighbourhood guides (https://liv.rent/blog/category/neighbourhoods/) and Alberta rental law explainers (https://liv.rent/blog/category/rental-laws/) on the liv.rent blog, or work through the liv.rent user guide for renters (https://liv.rent/blog/2021/07/liv-rent-user-guide-for-renters/) before booking a viewing. Landlords weighing a unit in the area can browse the full rent report archive (https://liv.rent/blog/rent-reports/) for the latest Calgary numbers.
Is Kensington a good neighbourhood for renters in Calgary?
Kensington is one of Calgary’s most walkable neighbourhoods, with more than 200 independent shops, cafes, and restaurants around 10th Street NW and Kensington Road NW, direct Bow River pathway access, and a Red Line CTrain stop at Sunnyside Station a short walk from most blocks. It suits renters who want an established, transit-connected inner-city community rather than a newer suburban node.
How far is Sunnyside CTrain Station from downtown Calgary?
Sunnyside CTrain Station sits on the Red Line on the north bank of the Bow River, directly across from downtown Calgary, and reaches downtown stops in a few minutes by train, according to Calgary Transit. It is the closest Red Line station to Kensington’s shopping strip.
What is the average one-bedroom rent in Calgary right now?
Calgary’s average furnished one-bedroom rented for $1,539 in September 2026, against $1,442 unfurnished, a $97 gap, according to liv.rent‘s September 2026 Calgary and Edmonton rent report. Kensington’s mostly unfurnished, older walk-up buildings tend to sit closer to the unfurnished figure.
Can a landlord raise the rent whenever they want in Alberta?
No. Alberta sets no cap on the size of a rent increase, but a landlord must give at least three full tenancy months’ written notice for a monthly periodic tenancy, and rent cannot go up during a fixed term or until 365 days have passed since the tenancy began or the last increase, under Alberta’s Residential Tenancies Act.
Is Kensington the same as Sunnyside in Calgary?
No. Kensington is the shared shopping district and Business Revitalization Zone centred at 10th Street NW and Kensington Road NW, spanning the separate residential communities of Hillhurst and Sunnyside. Sunnyside CTrain Station sits inside Sunnyside, right at the edge of Kensington’s commercial strip.
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