What does it cost to rent vs. buy in Toronto right now?
As of August 2026, the average unfurnished one-bedroom in the City of Toronto asked $1,947 a month, down 5.99% from $2,071 a year earlier, according to liv.rent’s August 2026 Ontario Rent Report. Furnished one-bedrooms actually cost less than unfurnished ones this month, at $1,930, reversing the usual furnished premium. Buying, by contrast, means paying the City of Toronto’s average selling price of $1,010,836, recorded by the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB) for July 2026, plus a down payment, land transfer tax and, for buyers with less than 20% down, mortgage insurance.
Renting requires less monthly cash flow in this illustrative comparison. Assuming a 20% down payment, a 4.24% five-year fixed rate and a 25-year amortization on that $1,010,836 average price, the mortgage principal and interest alone come to roughly $4,375 a month, before property tax, insurance, and monthly condo fees, where applicable. The table below lays out the gap.
| Metric | Renting (Toronto, Aug. 2026) | Buying (Toronto average price, July 2026) |
| Typical monthly payment | $1,947 (avg. unfurnished 1BR asking rent) | About $4,375 (mortgage principal and interest only, 20% down, 4.24% five-year fixed, 25-year amortization) |
| Cash needed to move in | First and last month’s rent (no damage deposit allowed) | About $202,167 down payment (20%) plus about $33,383 land transfer tax before rebates |
| Extra monthly costs | Utilities and tenant insurance, if required by the lease or chosen by the renter | Property tax, home insurance, and condo fees, where applicable |
Renters comparing the two options can browse current Toronto listings through liv.rent’s rental resources hub before deciding what makes sense for their budget.
Why Toronto’s double land transfer tax changes the math
Toronto charges its own municipal land transfer tax on top of Ontario’s provincial land transfer tax, a power granted to the city under the City of Toronto Act, 2006. On a home priced at the City of Toronto’s July 2026 average of $1,010,836, the provincial and municipal taxes combined come to roughly $33,383 before any rebate, using the current rate schedule.
Both the provincial and municipal tax use the same graduated brackets on a purchase this size: 0.5% on the first $55,000, 1% up to $250,000, 1.5% up to $400,000, and 2% on the remainder up to $2 million, with steeper municipal rates applying to properties priced above $3 million as of April 1, 2026. Because Toronto charges both taxes, the same purchase price costs a Toronto buyer roughly double the land transfer tax of a buyer in Ottawa, Hamilton or anywhere else in the province.
First-time buyers can claim a rebate of up to $4,000 against the provincial tax and up to $4,475 against Toronto’s municipal tax, a combined $8,475. That fully cancels out the municipal tax on purchases up to $400,000, but at the City of Toronto’s average price it barely dents the total, leaving a first-time buyer with roughly $24,900 in land transfer tax after both rebates.
Does Ontario’s 2.1% rent cap protect every Toronto renter?
Ontario’s 2026 rent increase guideline is 2.1%, covering an estimated 1.4 million rental households across the province, including Toronto. The guideline applies only to a unit first occupied for residential use on or before November 15, 2018; units first occupied after that date are exempt from the guideline amount.
The exemption changes the ceiling on a lawful increase, not the process. In an exempt, post-2018 building, a landlord isn’t limited to 2.1%, even during an existing tenancy, but still has to give at least 90 days’ written notice on the correct form and can only raise the rent once every 12 months. In a guideline-covered building, that same 90-day notice and 12-month timing applies, and 2.1% is the most a landlord can charge without approval from the Landlord and Tenant Board.
Confirming a building’s first occupancy date before signing is one of the more overlooked steps for anyone weighing whether to keep renting or start looking to buy.
What Bill 60 means for Toronto renters in 2026
Bill 60, the Fighting Delays, Building Faster Act, 2025, received royal assent on November 27, 2025, and amends several parts of the Residential Tenancies Act that apply to Toronto renters, including Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) forms, exceptions to personal-use compensation, how persistent late payment is treated, tenant participation at hearings, eviction discretion, and how LTB decisions get reviewed.
The changes are not all in force at once. A first set of provisions took effect July 1, 2026, and a further set is scheduled for September 21, 2026, meaning some of the bill’s changes were still not in force as of August 26, 2026. Anyone relying on Bill 60 for a specific rule, such as a notice period or lease renewal, should check the current status of that provision directly with the Landlord and Tenant Board or a paralegal, since this is general information, not legal advice.
For a closer look at how the RTA applies day to day, liv.rent’s Ontario rental laws hub tracks these kinds of legislative changes as they take effect.
When does buying actually pencil out?
One quick gut check some financial commentators use is the 5% rule: multiply the purchase price by 5%, divide by 12, and compare that figure to monthly rent. Applied to the City of Toronto’s July 2026 average price of $1,010,836, which blends detached houses, semis and condos, that works out to about $4,212 a month, well above the city’s $1,947 average one-bedroom asking rent. The comparison mixes an overall average sale price with a single-unit-type rent, so treat it as a broad screen rather than a precise, apples-to-apples read on any individual’s numbers.
The minimum down payment itself may be smaller than many buyers assume, though a lower down payment also means paying for mortgage default insurance. Since December 15, 2024, Canada’s federal insured-mortgage price cap has been $1.5 million, so a home at the City of Toronto’s average price only needs 5% down on the first $500,000 and 10% on the remainder, about $76,100 in total, rather than the 20% some buyers assume is required below $1 million. A 20% down payment is only mandatory on homes priced at $1.5 million or more.
Whatever the down payment, every buyer at a federally regulated lender has to qualify at the stress-tested rate: the higher of their contract rate plus two percentage points or 5.25%, per the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI). With five-year fixed rates around 4.24% in August 2026, that puts the effective qualifying rate closer to 6.24%, which shrinks the mortgage amount a given income can support.
How long it takes for buying to pay off compared to renting depends heavily on assumptions that vary from one buyer to the next: how much home prices rise, how mortgage rates move, how long someone stays, and what they’d otherwise do with the difference in cash. There’s no single number of years that applies to every Toronto purchase, so it’s worth running the math on your own numbers, or a lender’s, rather than leaning on a rule of thumb.
What protections do Toronto renters already have?
Ontario’s Residential Tenancies Act (RTA) gives Toronto renters several protections that are easy to overlook when weighing renting against buying. A landlord can only collect a rent deposit if it’s applied to the last rental period, and it can’t exceed one period’s rent; a separate damage deposit isn’t permitted, though a refundable key deposit equal to the actual cost of replacement is allowed.
A landlord usually needs 24 hours’ written notice before entering a rental unit, and can generally only do so between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., except in situations allowed under the RTA. Ending a tenancy takes more than a notice, too: the Landlord and Tenant Board has to issue an order before an eviction can be enforced, and a tenant can challenge a notice they believe was issued in bad faith, including a personal-use notice where the stated reason turns out not to be genuine.
None of this is legal advice, and it doesn’t cover every kind of tenancy (some shared-living arrangements fall outside the RTA), but it’s a reminder that some of what makes ownership appealing, like not depending on a landlord’s finances or intentions, comes with real, enforceable protections already built into renting in Ontario.
Is 2026 a good time to keep renting in Toronto?
For renters who aren’t ready to buy, the current market gives some room to negotiate. The City of Toronto’s average unfurnished one-bedroom asking rent has come in under the year-earlier figure in every month of 2026 so far. Across the wider Greater Toronto Area (GTA), which includes the city and its surrounding municipalities, CMHC’s most recent annual survey put purpose-built apartment vacancy at 3.0%, the loosest reading in years, with an average purpose-built two-bedroom renting for $2,034 GTA-wide.
That combination, softer asking rents in the city and more available supply regionally, gives renters more leverage than they’ve had in a while: room to negotiate on price, ask about included utilities, or simply take more time to compare units before committing.
Renters who decide to keep renting while they save toward a future down payment can look for ID-verified landlords on liv.rent and use platform tools to compare listings before signing. For a broader walkthrough of the process, liv.rent’s renter guide covers everything from applications to move-in day.
Is it cheaper to rent or buy in Toronto right now?
Yes, for most households renting takes less monthly cash flow. Toronto’s average one-bedroom asking rent was $1,947 in August 2026, while the City of Toronto’s average home sold for $1,010,836 in July 2026, and the mortgage payment alone on that price typically exceeds $4,000 a month before property tax, insurance and condo fees.
What is Ontario's rent increase guideline for 2026?
2.1%, covering roughly 1.4 million rental households in units first occupied for residential use on or before November 15, 2018. Units first occupied after that date are exempt from the guideline amount, though the usual notice and timing rules still apply.
Can my landlord raise the rent by any amount in Toronto?
It depends on whether the unit is covered by the guideline. For most units first occupied on or before November 15, 2018, the 2026 guideline caps the increase at 2.1% unless the Landlord and Tenant Board approves more. For units first occupied after that date, there’s no guideline ceiling, but the landlord still needs at least 90 days’ written notice and can only raise the rent once every 12 months, whether or not the unit is exempt.
How much is the land transfer tax on a home in Toronto?
Toronto buyers pay both Ontario’s provincial land transfer tax and the city’s own municipal tax, using the same graduated brackets. On the City of Toronto’s July 2026 average price of $1,010,836, the combined tax works out to roughly $33,383 before rebates, or about $24,900 for an eligible first-time buyer after the maximum $8,475 in combined rebates.
What did Bill 60 change for Ontario renters?
Bill 60, the Fighting Delays, Building Faster Act, 2025, received royal assent on November 27, 2025, and amends several parts of the Residential Tenancies Act, including Landlord and Tenant Board forms, personal-use compensation exceptions and eviction discretion. Its provisions are taking effect in stages through 2026, so not every change is in force yet. This is general information, not legal advice.
What's the minimum down payment on an average-priced Toronto home?
Since December 15, 2024, Canada’s insured-mortgage price cap has been $1.5 million, so a home at the City of Toronto’s roughly $1 million average price needs 5% down on the first $500,000 and 10% on the rest, about $76,100 in total, rather than the 20% many buyers assume applies below $1 million. Buyers who put down less than 20% also pay for mortgage insurance.
Can my landlord collect a damage deposit in Ontario?
No. Under the Residential Tenancies Act, a landlord can only collect a rent deposit applied to the last rental period, plus a refundable key deposit equal to the actual replacement cost. A separate damage deposit isn’t permitted.
Is Toronto's rental market better for renters in 2026 than in past years?
By several measures, yes. The City of Toronto’s average unfurnished one-bedroom asking rent has come in below the year-earlier figure every month so far in 2026. Regionally, CMHC’s most recent survey found purpose-built apartment vacancy across the wider GTA, which includes Toronto and its surrounding municipalities, at 3.0%, among the loosest readings in recent years.
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