March 2026 Calgary & Edmonton Rent Report

At a glance

• Calgary Southeast recorded the largest decline in one-bedroom rents
  • Calgary Southeast posted the largest year-over-year drop in one-bedroom unfurnished rents, falling from $1,587/month in March 2025 to $1,392/month in March 2026 (-12.3%). Calgary Northwest also recorded a notable decrease, with rents dropping from $1,571/month to $1,486/month (-5.4%), highlighting broader cooling in Calgary’s suburban rental markets.
    
• Calgary City Centre remains the most expensive rental market in Alberta
  • Calgary City Centre continued to command the highest rents for one-bedroom units. Unfurnished one-bedroom rents averaged $1,561/month in March 2026, remaining above other Calgary districts such as Calgary Northwest ($1,486) and Calgary Southeast ($1,392), as well as Edmonton markets like Edmonton Southwest ($1,314). Edmonton rents remained significantly lower than Calgary across most districts
    
• Edmonton rents remained significantly lower than Calgary across most districts
  • Across Alberta, Edmonton continued to offer more affordable rents than Calgary. In Edmonton Northwest, one-bedroom unfurnished rents averaged $1,171/month in March 2026, compared with $1,486/month in Calgary Northwest and $1,561/month in Calgary City Centre.
    

liv.rent’s 2026 Canada Rental Market Trends Report is now live.

On December 10th 2025, the Bank of Canada announced that it would maintain the interest rate at 2.25%, marking the final rate for 2025. Experts suggest rates may stay close to this level in 2026.

Let’s take a look now at the current rental costs and overarching trends in Calgary and Edmonton for March 2026. Don’t forget, you can download the entire report as a one-page infographic PDF below.

Average rent across Calgary

This March, Calgary’s city-wide average monthly rent price for an unfurnished one-bedroom unit decreased by $30, bringing the rate for an unfurnished one-bedroom unit to $1,460/month.

Month-to-month rent change

This chart breaks down the percentage change in rent prices across all of Calgary’s quadrants between February and March 2026.

Calgary saw decreases for furnished one-bedroom units, lead by Southwest (-9.36%) and Northwest (-3.38%), while increases were seen in Southeast Calgary (9.82%) and City Centre (5.29%). More decreases were seen across Calgary, including unfurnished one-bedroom units in Southeast Calgary (-9.84%) and Northeast Calgary (-4.68%), and an increase seen in City Centre (5.01%).

Average unfurnished vs furnished rates

Unfurnished vs furnished rates in Calgary

Average rates for furnished one-bedroom units in Calgary decreased this month, while unfurnished increased. The average monthly rent for an unfurnished one-bedroom unit decreased (-2.07%) to an average of $1,460/month this month. Prices for furnished one-bedroom units increased this month (5.03%), to a new average cost of $1,672/month.

At present, furnished units cost an average of $212 more per month to rent than unfurnished units. This means that landlords are likely to earn a higher profit by renting their units furnished.

Average rent across Edmonton

This month, Edmonton’s rental rates for an unfurnished one-bedroom unit decreased, making Edmonton’s average monthly rent $1,243/month. There is a significant difference from last year, when rent prices were $110 more than this March’s average rent.

Month-to-month rent change

This chart breaks down the percentage change in rent prices across all of Edmonton’s different sectors between February and March 2026.

This March, there were no substantial increases for furnished one-bedroom units in Edmonton, while decreases were seen in Southwest Edmonton (-1.02%) and West Edmonton (-0.76%). Prices for unfurnished one-bedroom units in West Edmonton (2.31%) increased, as did Southwest Edmonton (1.29%). Prices in Southeast Edmonton slightly decreased (-.69%).

Unfurnished vs furnished rates in Edmonton

In Edmonton, average monthly rent prices for furnished one-bedroom units decreased (-0.45%) to $1,473/month, while prices for unfurnished one-bedroom units increased (0.51%) to $1,243/month. As of March 2026, furnished units in Edmonton rent for an average of $230 more than unfurnished units. This indicates that landlords who can rent their units furnished would benefit from doing so, particularly on a short-term basis.

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

Quadrant/Sector breakdown 

To better understand each of these cities’ average rental prices, let’s break down both Calgary and Edmonton into their constituent quadrants/sectors. We’ll examine prices and trends for one-, two-, and three-bedroom units in each city for a more in-depth analysis.

Quadrant breakdown: Calgary

• Prices increased for all unfurnished one-bedroom units in the City Centre.
• All unfurnished three-bedroom units decreased in rental cost across Calgary quadrants except in the Northeast.
• Prices increased for all furnished two-bedroom units except in the Northwest and Southeast.

Sector breakdown: Edmonton

• Rents increased for unfurnished two-bedrooms across Edmonton except in the Northeast.
• Rents for all types of unfurnished units in West Edmonton increased.
• All furnished one-bedroom units decreased in price across Edmonton except in the Southeast.

Downloadable resources

Rental resources for Alberta renters

You can read these comprehensive guides for more information on renting in Alberta and using liv.rent to streamline your rental process.

• FAQ: Landlord & tenant responsibilities in Alberta
• FAQ: Everything you need to know about rent deposits in Alberta
• The Complete User Guide To liv.rent For Landlords & Property Managers
• The Ultimate Renter’s Guide To Using liv.rent

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.

---

Rethink The Way You Rent

Not on liv.rent yet? Experience the ease of digital applications & contracts, verified tenants & landlords, virtual tours and more – all on one platform. Sign up for free or download the app.

Learn More

Subscribe to receive monthly updates on Canada’s major rental markets. Discover last month’s Rent Reports below:

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