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With 20% down and a 4.6% mortgage rate, buying a two-bedroom condo overtakes renting after about 3 to 9 years in Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Montreal and Halifax, as long as prices grow 3% a year and there are no condo fees. Add $400 a month in fees and cut growth to 2%, and three of the five cities show no break-even inside 25 years.
What assumptions sit behind these numbers?
The rents are real and the home prices are made up. Rents come from the CMHC Rental Market Report: major centres, which lists 2025 average two-bedroom condominium apartment rents of $2,904 in Toronto, $2,900 in Vancouver, $2,030 in Calgary, $1,826 in Montreal and $2,465 in Halifax. I couldn’t confirm a city-level average condo price from a source I’d trust for October 2026. The national average sale price was $666,538 in September 2026, down 1.6% from a year earlier, which says little about any one city. So the prices below are round examples for a two-bedroom condo and nothing more.
- Down payment 20%, so no mortgage insurance. Rate 4.6%, 25-year amortization, compounded semi-annually as the Interest Act requires for fixed-rate mortgages.
- Property tax 0.7% of value a year, maintenance 1% of the purchase price a year, buying costs 3% of the price, selling costs 5% of the value.
- Rent rises 2.1% a year. Home prices rise 3% a year in the first case and 2% in the second.
- The renter invests the down payment and the buying costs at 5% a year, and whoever has the cheaper monthly bill invests the difference.
Each of those inputs is a guess about the future. Read the results as a comparison of five setups, not a forecast.
How many years until buying wins in each city?
In the first case the break-even year runs from 3 in Halifax to 9 in Vancouver. The table shows the engine’s output for each city, including the wealth gap after 10 years (home equity after selling costs, minus the renter’s investments).
| City | Example price | Monthly rent (CMHC) | Mortgage payment | Cost of owning, month 1 | Buying ahead in year | Buyer minus renter, year 10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Toronto | $700,000 | $2,904 | $3,131 | $4,122 | 6 | $68,040 |
| Vancouver | $780,000 | $2,900 | $3,488 | $4,593 | 9 | $19,257 |
| Calgary | $400,000 | $2,030 | $1,789 | $2,356 | 4 | $101,279 |
| Montreal | $450,000 | $1,826 | $2,013 | $2,650 | 6 | $36,860 |
| Halifax | $450,000 | $2,465 | $2,013 | $2,650 | 3 | $144,459 |
One ratio explains the pattern: monthly rent divided by price. It’s 0.37% in Vancouver, about 0.41% in Toronto and Montreal, 0.51% in Calgary and 0.55% in Halifax. The higher the ratio, the sooner buying wins. Vancouver’s example is only $19,257 ahead after ten years, so a small change in price growth could flip it.
What happens when condo fees are $400 and prices grow only 2%?
Buying stops winning in Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal over 25 years, while Calgary and Halifax still reach a break-even. This second run keeps the same rents and prices and looks 25 years out instead of 10.
| City | Cost of owning, month 1 | Buying ahead in year | Buyer minus renter, year 25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Toronto | $4,522 | None | -$60,086 |
| Vancouver | $4,993 | None | -$282,541 |
| Calgary | $2,756 | 12 | $132,646 |
| Montreal | $3,050 | None | -$151,784 |
| Halifax | $3,050 | 7 | $309,298 |
Fees quietly change the answer. The engine holds the $400 flat, and in real buildings fees tend to climb, so the owner’s side here is, if anything, kind.
How big is the renter’s head start?
The renter begins with the down payment already invested. On a $700,000 Toronto condo that’s $140,000, plus the $21,000 of buying costs the buyer spends at closing. The engine lets that money grow at 5% a year, which is an assumption and not a promise. At 3%, every break-even year should move earlier.
Taxes tilt things both ways. The gain on a home that was your principal residence is tax-free, but the sale still has to be reported on your return (see Canada Revenue Agency: reporting the sale of your principal residence). The renter’s investment growth is taxable unless it sits in a TFSA, an RRSP or an FHSA, and the engine doesn’t tax it, so the renter column runs a little generous for money in a regular account. Mortgage interest on the home you live in isn’t deductible in Canada, so the buyer’s side needs no tax line.
How do you run this for your own address?
Use a price from a listing you’d really bid on, a rent from a unit you’d really rent, the property tax from the city’s bill, and the condo fee from the listing or the status certificate. Those four numbers move the answer more than the mortgage rate does. The rent vs buy calculator takes every input above, and the mortgage payment calculator shows what a longer amortization does to the payment.
Look at the cash side too. Land transfer tax, legal fees and the rest add up to a few percent of the price, and the closing costs checklist goes through them line by line. Lenders also test your income at a higher rate than the one you sign for, which is the subject of how to pass the mortgage stress test. And rent control varies by province. In many places a landlord can reset the rent between tenants, so a 2.1% yearly rise suits a long-term tenant better than someone who moves often.
Where does this information come from?
Rents are the 2025 CMHC Rental Market Report averages for two-bedroom condominium apartments; home prices are round examples, and every result comes from the site’s rent-vs-buy engine run in October 2026. Checked in October 2026. This is an independent information site: we provide no services, we do not represent the CRA or any organization, and we do not guarantee that anything here is accurate or current. We accept no liability for decisions based on it. Check the official source before you rely on it. See the full disclaimer.
Frequently asked questions
Is it cheaper to rent or buy in Canada in 2026?
It depends on the city and the fees. With 20% down, a 4.6% rate and 3% yearly price growth, our five example condos favour buying after 3 to 9 years. Add $400 monthly condo fees and 2% growth, and renting stays ahead in Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal for 25 years.
Where does CMHC publish average rents?
CMHC's Rental Market Report lists average rents by city, bedroom count and building type each year. The 2025 report shows two-bedroom condominium apartments at $2,904 in Toronto. Purpose-built rentals cost less, for example $2,034 in Toronto, so match the type to the unit you'd rent.
Does a smaller down payment change the break-even year?
Yes, and it pushes break-even later. With under 20% down, mortgage insurance adds a premium of 2.8% to 4% of the loan on a typical insured purchase, and a bigger loan means more interest. The rent vs buy calculator lets you test it with your own prices.
Why do condo fees matter so much in this comparison?
A tenant pays no separate condo fee because the landlord covers it inside the rent. An owner pays it every month on top of the mortgage, property tax and maintenance. In the second case above, $400 a month adds $4,800 a year to the owner's side.
Do I pay tax when I sell a home I lived in?
If the home was your principal residence for every year you owned it, the gain is tax-free in Canada, but you still report the sale on your return. A home owned for less than 365 days is generally taxed as business income under the flipping rule.