Canada's housing market by city
New-home prices and rental vacancy across 8 major Canadian cities, from Statistics Canada and CMHC, with what's driving each market.
Canada's New Housing Price Index was 120.5 nationally for 2026-07, down 2.3% from a year earlier — but that national figure hides enormous variation underneath it. Montreal and Winnipeg are still posting new-home price gains. Toronto is down 4.6%, the steepest decline of any major market. The 8 cities below cover most of the country's population and a wide range of conditions, from Vancouver's cooling rents to Edmonton's fastest-in-the-country population growth.
| City | New home price index | Year over year | Rental vacancy (CMHC 2025) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Montreal | 159.5 | +3.4% | 2.9% |
| Winnipeg | 148.3 | +2.6% | — |
| Halifax | 128.6 | +1.0% | 2.7% |
| Ottawa | 161.5 | -0.5% | 3.0% |
| Edmonton | 106.0 | -0.9% | 3.8% |
| Calgary | 129.8 | -1.1% | 5.0% |
| Vancouver | 122.5 | -3.4% | 3.7% |
| Toronto | 105.8 | -4.6% | 3.0% |
| Canada (national) | 120.5 | -2.3% | — |
All figures as of 2026-07 for the price index and 2025 for CMHC's vacancy data; see Sources below. The index covers new-construction pricing only, not resale transactions — for resale prices in any of these cities, check your local real estate board's monthly report or ask a local REALTOR®. Winnipeg has no CMHC vacancy figure in this page's source data.
City by city
Toronto
Toronto's New Housing Price Index was 105.8 for 2026-07, down 4.6% year over year — the largest decline among the cities this page tracks, and well below the national figure. The resale price index blends very different stories by housing type: Toronto's condo segment is going through the sharpest correction of any part of the market. Builders started only a small fraction of the roughly 7,000 condo units a year they averaged over the previous decade, as investors who bought pre-construction in 2021–2022 face mortgage renewal at rates well above what they locked in, and many are choosing to rent finished units out rather than sell into a soft resale market, according to trade publication Canadian Mortgage Professional. CMHC's 2025 data shows Toronto's apartment vacancy rate at 3.0%, at the low end of its balanced range, with asking rents declining since late 2024. Detached and semi-detached houses haven't seen the same softness — the small-unit condo segment is specifically what's driving most of the movement in Toronto's index.
Vancouver
Vancouver's index was 122.5 for 2026-07, down 3.4% year over year, a steeper decline than the national reading. Vancouver's numbers are being pulled in two directions at once: Canada's ban on foreign nationals buying residential property (extended through January 2027), combined with B.C.'s own 20% foreign-buyer tax and Speculation and Vacancy Tax, has pushed most foreign capital out of the market, while a wave of new supply — particularly purpose-built rental and mid-rise condo completions through 2025 and 2026 — has landed just as federal immigration targets were trimmed, cooling the demand that supply was meant to meet. CMHC's 2025 data puts Vancouver's vacancy rate at 3.7%, just above its balanced range, with rent-to-income ratios easing back toward pre-pandemic levels — the most pronounced improvement of any major market CMHC tracks, a real shift after years of Vancouver being the country's consistently tightest rental market.
Montreal
Montreal's index was 159.5 for 2026-07, up 3.4% year over year, one of the strongest readings on this page and a clear contrast with the national decline. New-home prices are still climbing even as Montreal's rental market cools. Quebec's rental tribunal, the Tribunal administratif du logement, recommended a rent-increase guideline of 3.1% for 2026, down from 5.9% the year before, and average rent dipped slightly by mid-2026 as a smaller pool of international students and temporary workers thinned demand near the city's universities. CMHC's 2025 data puts Montreal's vacancy rate at 2.9%, within its balanced range, with rents showing little change. On the ownership side, though, new-construction prices haven't followed the rental market's pattern — "the Montreal market" behaves very differently depending on whether you're renting or buying new.
Calgary
Calgary's index was 129.8 for 2026-07, down 1.1% year over year, a smaller decline than the national figure. Calgary spent three years as one of Canada's tightest sellers' markets, driven heavily by interprovincial migration from Ontario and British Columbia — people drawn by lower housing costs, no provincial sales tax, and a strong job market. That inflow has slowed: Alberta's population growth is now forecast around 1.5% for 2026, down from roughly 3% in 2025, as international migration in particular has dropped off sharply, and Calgary is transitioning out of its seller's market into more balanced conditions as a result. CMHC's 2025 data shows Calgary's vacancy rate at 5.0%, near the top of its balanced range, and flagged Calgary alongside Halifax as having seen the most significant rental-affordability deterioration of any major market in recent years. Detached-home prices are holding up better than condos, which face a genuine oversupply.
Edmonton
Edmonton's index was 106.0 for 2026-07, down 0.9% year over year, close to flat. Edmonton has added more than 200,000 residents over the past five years, one of the fastest growth rates of any major Canadian city, driven by interprovincial migration, international immigration, and a simple fact: it's one of the last major markets where buyers from Toronto or Vancouver can still find real affordability. That inflow has kept rental vacancy relatively low even as the city has built more housing than most of its peers. CMHC's 2025 data puts Edmonton's vacancy rate at 3.8%, within its balanced range, with asking rents showing little change and affordability actually improving slightly — wage growth has outpaced rent growth, a contrast with several other major markets, and the main reason Edmonton's index reads close to flat.
Ottawa
Ottawa's index was 161.5 for 2026-07, down 0.5% year over year, nearly flat. Ottawa's biggest local risk factor is the federal public service itself, not a national trend: estimates suggest thousands of federal positions could be cut nationally through 2028, and Ottawa-Gatineau, as the seat of government, is disproportionately exposed to that downsizing. A softer local labour market, influenced by federal job restructuring, has already been cited as a factor in slower rent growth. CMHC's 2025 data shows Ottawa's vacancy rate at 3.0%, within its balanced range, with asking rents declining since mid-2025 and household growth expected to slow to around 1.3% in 2026. The market has split by property type: detached and semi-detached homes kept posting solid gains through 2025, while condo apartment prices fell — a pattern similar to Toronto's.
Winnipeg
Winnipeg's index was 148.3 for 2026-07, up 2.6% year over year, one of the stronger readings on this page. Winnipeg remains one of Canada's most affordable major markets by a wide margin: a household earning roughly $118,000 a year can afford the average detached home there, against $271,700 needed in Toronto and $204,500 in Calgary, according to industry affordability estimates. That price gap is exactly why Winnipeg's index keeps posting some of the stronger year-over-year gains on this page — it's starting from a much lower base than the markets it's often compared against. What's actually limiting activity isn't affordability so much as transaction volume: overall resale sales fell roughly 9% year over year in a recent month even as prices kept setting records, suggesting fewer buyers are active rather than buyers being priced out. Housing affordability did deteriorate slightly through the second quarter of 2026 on the National Bank of Canada's Housing Affordability Monitor — a reminder that "affordable" is relative even in a market this much cheaper than its peers.
Halifax
Halifax's index was 128.6 for 2026-07, up 1.0% year over year, a contrast with the national decline. Halifax has spent a decade absorbing steady interprovincial migration from Ontario, British Columbia, and Alberta on top of international newcomers, and the metro population has now passed 517,000. That growth has cooled from its 2023–24 peak of over 20,000 new residents a year to roughly 7,800 in the most recent year — still real growth, just at a more sustainable pace — and builders have responded: Halifax recorded over 5,600 housing starts in 2025, about 81% of them purpose-built rental units. CMHC's 2025 data puts Halifax's vacancy rate at 2.7%, just below its balanced range, and flagged Halifax alongside Calgary as having seen the most significant rental-affordability deterioration of any major market in recent years. With that much purpose-built rental supply now under construction, whether vacancy climbs toward balance is one of the more interesting open questions on this page.
Frequently asked questions
Which Canadian city has the steepest new-home price decline?
Toronto, down 4.6% year over year as of 2026-07 on Statistics Canada's New Housing Price Index — the largest decline among the 8 cities this page tracks, driven mostly by a collapse in new condo starts and investors renting out finished pre-construction units rather than selling.
Which Canadian city has the strongest new-home price growth?
Montreal, up 3.4% year over year as of 2026-07, even as its rental market cools — new-construction prices and rents are moving in opposite directions there.
Which major Canadian city is the most affordable to buy in?
Winnipeg, by a wide margin: a household earning roughly $118,000 a year can afford the average detached home there, against $271,700 needed in Toronto and $204,500 in Calgary, per industry affordability estimates.
Which city has the tightest rental market?
Halifax, with a 2.7% vacancy rate in CMHC's 2025 data — just below what CMHC considers the city's balanced range, and tied with Calgary for the steepest recent rental-affordability deterioration CMHC tracks.
Why do new-home prices and resale prices move differently in the same city?
Statistics Canada's New Housing Price Index, which this page uses, covers new-construction pricing only — it doesn't include resale transactions. In cities like Toronto and Ottawa, new condo prices are falling even where detached resale homes are still gaining, so the index and your local resale board's report can tell very different stories about the same city.
Sources
- Statistics Canada — retrieved 2026-09-14
- Statistics Canada. Table 18-10-0205-01, "New housing price index, monthly." Adapted from Statistics Canada. This does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada of this product.
- CMHC, "2026 Mid-Year Rental Market Update"
- Canadian Mortgage Professional, "Toronto's condo market makes a wretched start to 2026"
- National Bank of Canada, Housing Affordability Monitor
This page gives general market information, checked against the sources above on the date shown. It is not investment, legal, or financial advice. Markets move; confirm current figures with your local real estate board or a licensed professional before relying on them.