For most of the past few years, Canada’s multifamily story has been straightforward: tight supply, strong demand and rent growth that felt like it had a tailwind. Q4 2025 does not erase that long-term reality, but it does mark a shift in the near-term chapter.
Vacancy rose, rent momentum cooled and performance became more uneven by market. If you’re forecasting for 2026, this is the kind of quarter you want to study closely.
Below are the key takeaways from the Yardi Canadian National Multifamily Report: Q4 2025, built from aggregated data representing 517,000+ units across Canada.
The market is loosening, but not everywhere
The biggest signal in Q4 was that the market began to rebalance in select regions. Conditions are still tight in many places, but the direction is changing and the gap between markets is widening.
These Canada-wide benchmarks based off two-bedrooms stood out in Q4 2025:
- Vacancy rose to 4.3% across Canada, the highest level since Yardi began tracking in 2020
- New lease rent growth slowed to 0.9% across Canada
- Average in-place rent reached $1,892 across Canada
- Annualised expenses per unit were about $8,004 nationally (based on $667 per month).
Those top-line numbers are useful. The real value, though, is what the report reveals underneath them: the shift is not uniform, and results increasingly depend on where you operate and what you rent.
A wave of new supply is changing the math
New supply is one of the biggest forces behind Q4’s shift. Canada’s six largest CMAs delivered 94,611 units in 2025 through November, up 1.9% from 92,830 in the same period in 2024, according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) and Common Sense Economics.
More purpose-built rentals are essential for housing access long-term. In the short term, supply arriving in volume can change leasing conditions quickly in specific metros. That’s why broad market narratives matter less than they used to. Housing providers need to track what’s happening at the CMA level, and react before vacancy creeps up.
New lease pricing is losing steam
In-place rents continued to rise, but the momentum has clearly slowed. Average two-bedroom in-place rent ended Q4 at $1,892 across Canada.
The bigger shift showed up in new leasing. New lease rent growth for two-bedrooms slowed to 0.9% across Canada in Q4 2025, down from 2.4% in the prior quarter. Several Ontario markets also moved into negative territory, including:
- Kitchener–Cambridge–Waterloo (-2.8%)
- Toronto (-0.4%)
- Hamilton (-0.2%)
In practical terms, softer new lease growth often means the same thing: leasing gets more competitive. Pricing needs to be tighter, and execution starts to matter more than market momentum.
Vacancy is rising, and leasing is getting sharper
Vacancy for two-bedrooms reached 4.3% across Canada in Q4 2025. That doesn’t mean the market is suddenly “loose.” It does mean more operators are entering conditions where occupancy is not guaranteed by default, especially in markets with higher deliveries.
This is where the report becomes most useful. It breaks results down by CMA and bedroom type, so you can see where vacancy is rising, where pricing is holding and where market conditions are shifting fastest. If your team is budgeting, planning renewals or setting 2026 leasing targets, this level of detail is where the best decisions come from.
Turnover stays elevated as renters hold their ground
The report also provides resident movement benchmarks that help put leasing pressure into context. In Q4 2025:
- Annual two-bedroom turnover reached 23.9% across Canada
- Average resident stay was 39 months across Canada
These two metrics together are a helpful signal: residents are staying relatively long on average, but turnover remains high enough to be an ongoing operational and cash flow pressure point. In a more competitive leasing environment, retaining residents and reducing friction in renewals becomes even more valuable.
When competition rises, digital conversion becomes the edge
As the market balances, demand signals and digital performance become harder to ignore. The report includes a benchmark for digital prospect conversion, which helps teams understand what “good” can look like at the top of the funnel.
When rent growth is cooling and vacancy is rising, marketing and leasing teams don’t just need more leads, they need stronger conversion, faster follow-up and clean handoffs from inquiry to application to lease.
What housing providers should watch heading into 2026
Q4 2025 is a clear reminder that Canada’s multifamily market is entering a more nuanced phase. The macro story still matters, but the next chapter will reward operators who can move quickly and benchmark performance against what’s actually happening in their market.
Three practical things to focus on:
- Track performance by CMA and bedroom type so you’re not planning off averages
- Watch new lease trends closely as an early signal of competition and pricing pressure
- Measure conversion and leasing velocity, not just traffic, so you can adjust before occupancy softens
How Breeze Premier helps you respond faster
In a shifting market, housing providers need systems that reduce manual work and help teams execute consistently. Yardi Breeze Premier supports housing providers by bringing key workflows into one platform, helping you:
- Stay organized across leasing activity and prospect follow-up
- Support resident satisfaction and renewals through efficient maintenance workflows
- Improve visibility with reporting and operational insights
- Keep teams aligned when responsiveness matters most
When conditions start to balance, reliable data and day-to-day execution become the advantage. This report provides the benchmarks. Your systems and workflows help you act on them.
Download the Q4 2025 report
Explore deeper insights by CMA and bedroom type, plus additional benchmarks on vacancy, rents, turnover, resident stay and digital prospect conversion.
Download the report: www.yardi.com/cndmultifamilyreport
