The average rent in Hamilton was $2,170 in March 2026, with one-bedroom rents at $1,853, which is up 4.9 per cent from February, according to the latest Rentals.ca market update.
One-bedroom units are also up 7.7 per cent compared to March 2025.
The increase in Hamilton rents comes despite the fact that the Canada-wide average asking rent fell to a 35-month low of $2,008.
Out of the 60 cities in the report, Hamilton ranks as the 22nd most expensive for one-bedroom rents.
The City of Hamilton is one of only four cities in the top 25 to have seen a year-over-year increase in one-bedroom rents.
The other three are Kingston (5.1 per cent increase year-over-year), Brampton (1.2 per cent increase), and Waterloo (2.8 per cent increase).
Hamilton’s year-over-year rent increase for average one-bedroom rent was the highest in the report.
The top five most expensive cities for average overall rent are North Vancouver, Vancouver, Burnaby, North York, and Coquitlam.
The following cities near Hamilton are all more expensive: Oakville ranks eighth most expensive for one-bedroom rent at $2,454, Burlington is 11th at $2,346, and Waterloo is 20th at $2,229.
Nearby cities that are less expensive are Cambridge, which is 33rd at $2,049, Kitchener, which is 34th at $1,989, Brantford, which is 36th at $1,985,
Niagara Falls, which is 42nd at $1,907, St. Catharines, which is 44th at $1,841, and Welland, which is 45th at $1,792.
Meanwhile, the average two-bedroom unit in Hamilton costs $2,396, which is up 6.1 per cent from last month and 14.3 per cent from last year.
Only Kingston saw a higher year-over-year increase for two-bedroom units (19.6 per cent increase).
In terms of Canada-wide numbers, Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario, and Quebec have all seen year-over-year average rent decreases.
Meanwhile, Atlantic Canada, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan have seen year-over-year average rent increases.
At the provincial level, rent for all property types is still cheapest in Saskatchewan ($1,442 average), Manitoba ($1,660), and Alberta ($1,741).
The most expensive provinces are British Columbia ($2,384), Ontario ($2,238), and Atlantic Canada ($2,191).
Nationally, secondary market units, such as houses and townhomes, have seen the largest year-over-year decline in rents (down 9.0 per cent), followed by condo rental apartments (down 6.9 per cent), and then purpose-built rental apartments (down 3.9 per cent).
REPORT DATA
The data used in the Rentals.ca analysis is based on monthly listings from the Rentals.ca Network of Internet Listings Services (ILS).
The rankings and report are written by the real estate research firm Urbanation.
The data differs from the numbers collected and published by the Canada Mortgage Housing Corporation (CMHC).
The Rentals.ca Network of ILS’s data covers both the primary and secondary rental markets and includes basement apartments, rental apartments, condominium apartments, townhouses, semi-detached houses, and single-detached houses.
The report’s writers say that CMHC rental rates are reflective of what the average household spends on rental housing and not the current market rents for vacant units.
Based in Hamilton, he reaches hundreds of thousands of people monthly on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. He has been published in The Hamilton Spectator, Stoney Creek News, and Bay Observer. He has also been a segment host with Cable 14 Hamilton. In 2017, he received the Chancellor Full Tuition Scholarship from the University of Ottawa (BA, 2022). He has also received the Governor General’s Academic Medal. He formerly worked in a non-partisan role on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
