May 2025 Toronto Rent Report

At a glance

• Prices soar for furnished and unfurnished units in North York
  • When looking at one-bedroom unfurnished units this month, North York saw the largest increase at (+6.57%). The area also saw a notable rise in one-bedroom furnished unit prices, up (+7.01%). Only Brampton (+7.37%) saw a larger increase for one-bedroom furnished units.
• $85/month separates unfurnished vs furnished units this May
  • Prices for unfurnished one-bedroom units saw a (+1.02%) increase this May to an average of $2,148/month. Meanwhile, furnished one-bedroom units saw a (-0.56%) decrease to $2,063/month, meaning that just $85/month separates the two in price. This suggests there’s little added value for landlords in furnishing their units at this time.
• North York rent per square foot more than doubles Brampton
  • At ($4.44/sq. ft.), North York had the highest rental rate per square foot this May, well above the average of ($2.80/sq. ft.). The gap between North York and Brampton, the least expensive city at ($2.08/sq. ft.) is ($2.36/sq. ft.), which exceeds the average cost per square foot in both Mississauga and Vaughan-Richmond Hill.

liv.rent’s 2025 Canada Rental Market Trend Report is now live! Explore the latest rental trends across Canada, uncover key factors driving price changes, and gain exclusive insights into how landlords and renters perceive the market nationwide. Download your copy here.

As of May 2025, the City of Toronto’s average monthly rent price for an unfurnished one-bedroom saw a YoY drop of $91 to a new monthly average of $2,148 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.

Toronto rent trends

Compared to last month, the average rent price for an unfurnished one-bedroom unit in Toronto increased by $22 this May. Looking at a year-over-year comparison, the average monthly rent for an unfurnished one-bedroom unit in Toronto has decreased, dropping by $91 since May 2024.

Planning on raising rent this year? Ontario’s Annual allowable rent increase limit for 2025/2026 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.

Month-to-month rent change

This chart breaks down the percentage change in rent prices across all GTA cities/municipalities between April and May 2025.

Unfurnished Toronto rent trends

Rates for unfurnished one-bedroom units in the GTA varied depending on the neighbourhood. When looking at one-bedroom units, Markham saw the largest decrease at (-5.39%), while North York saw the largest increase at (+6.57%).

Furnished Toronto rent trends

This month, average rates for furnished one-bedroom units in the GTA saw two major changes. Brampton saw the largest increase at (+7.37%), while Vaughan-Richmond Hill saw the largest decrease at (-7.94%).

Toronto furnished vs unfurnished averages

This May, prices for unfurnished one-bedroom units saw a (+1.02%) increase while furnished units saw a (-0.56%) decrease. The average one-bedroom unfurnished unit rents for $85 more than a one-bedroom furnished unit. This means that at present, landlords won’t see profits renting out their units furnished, although they may still be able to capitalize on the demand for short-term rentals.

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 May, North York ($4.44/sq. ft.) and Markham ($3.22/sq. ft.) have the most expensive average rent per square foot, followed by Scarborough ($2.81/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 May 2025, the most common rental property type in the Greater Toronto Area was apartments, representing the majority of all listings in the GTA at 85.96%. Houses were the second most common unit type this month, representing 7.87% of active listings.

Active listings by number of bedrooms

In terms of the number of bedrooms, we saw a more even spread across active listings on the market this May. One-bedroom units were the most common type of listing in the GTA this month at 46.80%, while two-bedroom units represented 40.94% of the region’s active listings. Three-bedroom units make up the remaining 12.26%.

Looking for our full May 2025 Toronto Rent Report? Download your copy here to get all the latest insights, including a detailed breakdown by neighbourhood.

City breakdown

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

The average rent price for an unfurnished one-bedroom unit in Oshawa currently stands at $1,782, while in North York the same type of unit rents for an average of $2,295 – a difference of $513 between the two.

Because Ontario’s different communities are 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.

• Prices increased across all types of unfurnished units in Brampton and Vaughan-Richmond Hill
• Downtown and Vaughan-Richmond Hill were the only two areas to see prices decline for one-bedroom furnished units this month
• Prices decreased for all unfurnished units in Markham this May

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 May for one-bedroom unfurnished units. North York is the most expensive for one-bedroom unfurnished units.

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 May, none of the country’s five most expensive cities are located in the GTA. West Vancouver is the most expensive city in the country to rent in, followed by North Vancouver, Richmond, Vancouver and Burnaby.

Downloadable resources

Our complete May 2025 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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April 2025 Metro Vancouver Rent Report
April 2025 Toronto Rent Report
April 2025 Calgary & Edmonton Rent Report
April 2025 Montreal Rent Report