Average rent in Québec: why the numbers don’t agree

One 2-bedroom, three average rents

Take a 2-bedroom apartment in the Montréal area, what Quebecers call a “4½”. Depending on the source, its “average” rent changes completely:

Measure	Average rent	Source and date
All tenants in purpose-built rental buildings	$1,346	CMHC, October 2025
Units that changed tenants during the year	$1,644	CMHC, October 2025
Asking rents in online listings	$1,900	Statistics Canada, Q1 2026

None of these numbers is wrong. They simply answer three different questions. Mixing them up leads to bad decisions, whether you’re setting a rent, buying a building or reading an article about the housing crisis.

What each source measures

CMHC: the rent of all tenants

CMHC’s Rental Market Survey is conducted every October. It covers privately initiated apartment buildings with 3 or more units. The average rent it publishes includes every unit in those buildings: the one leased last week and the one occupied by the same tenant for 15 years.

It’s the best measure of what renter households actually pay. It isn’t what a new tenant will pay.

CMHC with turnover: the price of a new lease

CMHC also publishes the average rent of units that changed tenants in the 12 months before the survey. That’s much closer to the market: $1,644 for a 2-bedroom in Montréal in 2025, versus $1,346 for all units.

Statistics Canada: listed rents

Since 2024, Statistics Canada has published quarterly rent statistics in partnership with CMHC. They’re based on listings posted on major online rental platforms: experimental estimates of the asking rent for available units.

In the first quarter of 2026, the average asking rent for a 2-bedroom in Montréal was $1,900, down 1.6% from a year earlier.

Listing sites: their own inventory

Listing sites’ monthly reports measure asking rents on their own platform. Their numbers depend on what’s posted there, often more new, professionally managed buildings, so higher rents. They’re useful to follow a trend, but they don’t describe the whole market.

Why the gap is so large in Québec

Sitting tenants pay less

In Québec, the increase on a renewed lease follows the method of the Tribunal administratif du logement (TAL), the province’s housing tribunal. In 2025, its recommendation hit a record 5.9%. For 2026, the TAL published a base rate of 3.1% under a new calculation method.

When a unit is re-leased, the rent follows the market instead. As a result, in Montréal in 2025, the average rent of 2-bedrooms that changed tenants rose 17.2%, versus 6.0% for those whose tenant stayed.

Few people move

The bigger the gap between a tenant’s rent and the market, the less reason they have to move. In the Québec City area, only 13% of renter households moved in 2025, a record low according to CMHC. Rents there still rose a record 6.4%, and 10% for those who moved.

Less turnover means a larger share of units keep an old rent. The average of all tenants then falls even further behind the market.

Listings over-represent new buildings

New units are more expensive and more often vacant. In the Québec City area, their vacancy rate was close to 6% in 2025, versus about 1% for the cheapest units. Because they stay listed longer, they weigh more heavily in an average of listings.

Which number should you use?

Your question	The right measure
What should I charge for my vacant 2-bedroom?	Asking rents of current comparables in your area
Does my building have upside?	The gap between your in-place rents and comparables’ asking rents
What increase can I ask at renewal?	The TAL’s method, not the market
Are rents affordable in my region?	CMHC’s average rent
Is the market slowing down?	The trend in asking rents and vacancy

For a decision about a specific building, no regional average is enough. You need comparables: similar buildings nearby, for the same unit type, with recent prices. Our rental market survey guide walks through it in six steps. For the latest figures by city, see our Québec rental market statistics.

The traps in an average of listings

Even an average of asking rents can mislead if you don’t check what’s in it:

• “From” prices. “From $1,395” isn’t the rent of a specific 2-bedroom.
• Duplicates. The same listing can appear on several sites and on several dates.
• Stale listings. A unit leased a month ago may still be posted.
• What’s included. A heated unit and an unheated one don’t compare directly.
• Furnished and short-term. They follow a different pricing logic.

That’s why RentData shows every rent with its source, its date and its price basis (exact unit, “from” price or range). See how in our methodology.

In short

• CMHC’s average rent describes what all tenants pay. It understates the price of a new lease.
• Asking rents describe the market today, for available units.
• In Québec, regulated increases and low turnover widen the gap between the two.
• To set a rent, compare similar buildings, with dated and sourced prices.