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Neighbourhood guide

Living in Kensington-Cedar Cottage, Vancouver

Fifty-one thousand people, a lake in the middle of it, and a rental market made almost entirely of suites in houses. Here is what renting in Kensington-Cedar Cottage is actually like, why the listings look different here, and what to check before you sign.
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Family sized Trout Lake House suites Very diverse
44 rentals available in Kensington-Cedar Cottage
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What's it like to live in Kensington-Cedar Cottage?

Kensington-Cedar Cottage is one of the three biggest neighbourhoods in Vancouver by population, around 51,000 people spread across the grid between Fraser and Nanaimo, and it has no single centre. Kingsway cuts diagonally through it with the restaurants, Victoria Drive runs the shops, Trout Lake sits in the northeast corner, and in between it is house after house on a quiet street. That shapelessness is the point: people move here for a whole floor rather than a view.The rental market is unlike the west side in a way that matters before you start searching. More than four in ten homes here are suites in a duplex or a house, and only 45% of households rent at all, below the 55% city figure. So the typical listing is not a unit in a managed building; it is the lower floor of somebody’s house, with the owner upstairs. That means more space per dollar, and it also means condition, laundry, heat and noise vary enormously between two listings at the same price.It is more linguistically mixed than the city as a whole. Nearly half the residents have a mother tongue that is neither English nor French, with Cantonese, Tagalog and Vietnamese the largest, and the food follows: the Vietnamese restaurants along Kingsway and Victoria are the reason people from the rest of the city drive here. The average household is 2.6 people, well above the city, and the schools and parks are built for that.Transit is decent rather than excellent. Nanaimo Station on the Expo Line sits on the eastern edge and puts you downtown in about twenty minutes, and the 20 Victoria runs the length of the neighbourhood, but a lot of addresses are a real walk from either. The compensation is that the numbered avenues are quiet, the Ridgeway bike route runs east to west, and you can still get a two bedroom here for what a one bedroom costs closer in.

Best suited for

  • Families wanting space per dollar
  • Renters who want a whole floor
  • Anyone who cooks and eats out east
  • Cyclists on the Ridgeway
  • –Anyone who needs a managed building
  • –Downtown workers without a car

Quick facts

  • Population51,000
  • Renter households45%
  • Median age39
  • Suites in houses43%

Getting around

One SkyTrain station on the eastern edge, frequent buses on the corridors, and a lot of quiet grid in between.

86/100

WalkabilityErrands cluster on Kingsway and Victoria Drive

85/100

Transit accessNanaimo Station plus the 20 and 19 corridors

87/100

CyclingThe Ridgeway and Lakewood routes, some real hills
Nanaimo Station12 min walk
Metrotown20 min by SkyTrain
Vancouver General Hospital30 min by bus
John Hendry Park (Trout Lake)19 min walk
Downtown Vancouver25 min by SkyTrain
UBC campus45 min by bus
Expo Line
20 Victoria
19 Metrotown
22 Knight
25 UBC
33 29th Avenue Station
8 Fraser
9 Boundary

Kensington-Cedar Cottage on the map

The neighbourhood boundary, and the places listed further down the page.

Schools and childcare

The neighbourhood spans several catchments, so confirm your address with the Vancouver School Board. Walk times are measured from Victoria Drive and Kingsway.
SchoolTypeWalk time
Gladstone Secondary
Public · 8–127 min
Lord Selkirk Elementary
Public · K–79 min
Terry Tayler Early Learning and Care
Childcare · 0–511 min
Sir Richard McBride Elementary
Public · K–715 min
George T. Cunningham Elementary
Public · K–717 min
Tyee Elementary
Public · K–718 min
Saint Joseph's School
Independent · K–720 min
Stratford Hall
Independent · K–1221 min

Around the neighbourhood

Walk times from Victoria Drive and Kingsway.

Groceries

  • T&T Supermarket5 min
  • 88 Supermarket7 min
  • Famous Foods9 min
  • Save-On-Foods13 min

Coffee and bakeries

  • Jin Mai Bakery7 min
  • Café Eggstatic8 min
  • Hoi An Cafe11 min
  • El Caracol Mexican Cafe13 min

Food and drink

  • Pho Duy1 min
  • The Tipper1 min
  • Mui Ngo Gai1 min
  • Crab Hot Lau3 min

Parks

  • Brewers Park5 min
  • General Brock Park7 min
  • Kingcrest Park12 min
  • John Hendry Park (Trout Lake)19 min

Fitness and pools

  • Cedar Cottage Neighbourhood House7 min
  • Kensington Community Centre17 min
  • Trout Lake Community Centre17 min
  • Kensington Pool18 min

Everyday services

  • The Medicine Shoppe1 min
  • Pharmasave3 min
  • Queens Apothecary7 min
  • VPL: Kensington Branch14 min

Rent with confidence in Kensington-Cedar Cottage

What BC tenancy rules protect, and how liv.rent keeps the process safe from first message to signed lease.

Deposits are capped

A landlord in BC can ask for a security deposit of up to half a month of rent, plus up to half a month again if you have a pet. Anything more is not permitted.

Rent increases are limited

Existing tenancies can only be increased once every 12 months, by no more than the provincial cap, and with three full months of written notice.

Every listing is verified

Landlords complete ID verification before they can post, and you can sign the lease and pay rent through liv.rent, so there is no e-transfer to a stranger.
Because more than four in ten homes here are suites in a house, most tenancies put you under the same roof as your landlord. That is a normal and legal arrangement, but check that the suite is a legal one, get the heating, laundry, parking and utilities split in writing, and confirm whether the rent includes hydro. Never send a deposit before you have seen the actual unit. The tenancy points above are general information about renting in British Columbia, not legal or financial advice. For guidance on your own tenancy, contact the Residential Tenancy Branch.How liv.rent verification works

Kensington-Cedar Cottage rental questions

Is Kensington-Cedar Cottage expensive compared with the rest of Vancouver?

No, it is one of the better value neighbourhoods in the city, and it is where a lot of people go when they want a second bedroom. CMHC does not publish a survey zone that lines up with this local area, so there is no clean market average to quote for it. What the census does show is renter shelter costs running about 8% below the city average, on housing that is materially larger than the city average.

Why are so many listings here suites in a house?

Because that is what the neighbourhood is built from. More than four in ten homes are an apartment or flat in a duplex, which in Vancouver almost always means a house divided into an upper and a lower suite. It is the reason you get more floor area for your money here, and the reason two listings at the same rent can be completely different in condition. View in person, and ask about laundry, heat and who pays hydro.

Is Trout Lake in Kensington-Cedar Cottage?

Yes, in the northeast corner. Its official name is John Hendry Park, and it holds the Trout Lake Community Centre, a rink, the swimming beach and one of the largest farmers markets in the city, held on Saturdays from April to October. It is the closest thing the neighbourhood has to a town square.

Does Kensington-Cedar Cottage have a SkyTrain station?

Nanaimo Station on the Expo Line sits on the eastern boundary, and 29th Avenue Station is just beyond it. From either, downtown is about twenty minutes and Metrotown about twelve. Plenty of addresses in the middle and west of the neighbourhood are a fifteen to twenty five minute walk from a platform, so check the specific address rather than the neighbourhood.

Is Kensington-Cedar Cottage a good neighbourhood for families?

It is one of the better ones on price per bedroom. The average household is 2.6 people against 2.1 citywide, the parks are large, and Gladstone Secondary and a long list of elementary schools sit inside the boundaries. The neighbourhood spans several catchments, so confirm which one your address falls into rather than assuming the nearest school.

Can I find pet-friendly rentals in Kensington-Cedar Cottage?

Often, yes, and the odds are better than in strata towers because most landlords here are homeowners setting their own policy rather than following a building bylaw. The flip side is that a no pets answer is final, because there is no strata council to appeal to. Landlords may ask for an additional pet deposit of up to half a month of rent.
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Methodology

Places, parks, schools and transit routes on this page come from OpenStreetMap. Walk times are approximate. Population, age and how many households rent come from Statistics Canada's 2021 Census. Neighbourhood figures total its smallest published areas inside the City of Vancouver's local area boundaries. Rent and vacancy come from CMHC's Rental Market Survey for October 2025, for the City of Vancouver.Listing counts and prices come from liv.rent, so they show what's on the platform rather than the whole city.OpenStreetMap, Statistics Canada, CMHC. Last updated October 2026.