These tables provide the vacancy rates, by dwelling type, year of construction and structure size. CMHC conducts the annual Rental Market Survey in October. The survey is conducted on a sample basis in all urban areas with populations of 10,000 or more. It targets only privately initiated structures with at least 3 rental units, which have been on the market for at least 3 months. Included in the file package are data for Canada, PR, CSD, CT, MET, Neighbourhood and Zone geographies. The latter three levels of geography are defined as follows:
- MET: Metropolitan area boundaries correspond to CMAs, CAs, or CSDs with a population of 10,000+ people as defined by Statistics Canada. This is updated annually based on population fluctuations.
- Neighbourhood: Neighbourhoods are made up of CMHC-defined census tracts (which match Statistics Canada census tracts for the most part) and cannot cross zone boundaries.
- Zone: Zones are primarily made up of one or many Statistics Canada Census Tract (CT) boundaries. Zone boundaries respect CT boundaries
Consult the Methodology Notes for more information on the CMHC Rental Market Survey.
Definitions:
Rental Apartment Structure: Any building containing 3 or more rental units, of which at least 1 unit is not ground oriented. Owner-occupied units are not included in the rental building unit count.
Rental Row (Townhouse) Structure: Any building containing three or more rental units, all of which are ground oriented with vertical divisions. Owner-occupied units are not included in the rental building unit count. These row units in some centres are commonly referred to as townhouses.
Vacancy: A unit is considered vacant if it is physically unoccupied and available for immediate rental (at the time of the survey).
Rent: The rent refers to the actual amount tenants pay for their unit. No adjustments are made for the inclusion or exclusion of amenities and services such as heat, hydro, parking or hot water. For available and vacant units, the rent is the amount the owner is asking for the unit. The average rents reported in this publication provide a sound indication of the amounts paid by unit size and geographical sector. Utilities such as heating, electricity and hot water may or may not be included in the rent.
Turnover: A unit is counted as being turned over if it was occupied by a new tenant that moved in during the past 12 months. A unit can be counted as being turned over more than once in a 12-month period.
Reliability Codes for Proportions
CMHC uses CV, sampling fraction and universe size to determine the ability to publish proportions. The following letter codes are used to indicate the level of reliability of proportions:
- A — Excellent
- B — Very good
- C — Good
- D — Fair (use with caution)
- ** or Poor — Suppressed