Two years after my last Montreal apartment rent check, Montreal is still expensive, but some rental data suggests the market has cooled. Now that we’re in 2026, it feels like the right time to update the numbers. If you’re a renter and want to live in Montreal, here’s what people are paying to live in the city.
The TLDR version is this: Montreal is still expensive, especially compared with the city many people remember from years ago. However, there are signs that rents have gone done a bit. The drop isn’t dramatic enough to make Montreal “cheap,” but it does suggest that some renters may have a little more room to compare listings, look around, and avoid jumping at the first apartment they see.
Montreal Rent in 2026
According to liv.rent’s May 2026 Montreal Rent Report, the average monthly rent for an unfurnished one-bedroom apartment in Montreal was $1,636, up about 0.63% (roughly $10) from the previous month. That’s still down from May 2025, when liv.rent listed the citywide average at $1,710, a year-over-year decline of $74, or about 4.3%.
Zumper’s Montreal rent page shows different figures because it uses a different dataset and updates on a rolling 30-day basis. As of June 2026, Zumper listed Montréal’s overall average monthly rent at $1,925, up 6.4% year-over-year, with one-bedroom apartments averaging around $1,810 and two-bedroom apartments around $2,300.
The broader takeaway is that rental benchmarks vary by source, but Montreal one-bedrooms are generally in the mid-to-high $1,000s, while two-bedrooms are commonly above $2,000.
That difference is important. Rental sites do not all measure the market the same way. Some focus on unfurnished units, some include different property types, and some rely on current listings from their own platforms. So the exact number depends on the source.
Still, the general picture is clear: A Montreal one-bedroom is often somewhere in the $1,600 to $1,800 range, while two-bedroom apartments can easily be over $2,000.
Quick Rent Comparison: Montreal, Laval, Brossard, and Longueuil
Here are a few current rent numbers from recent rental market sources:
- Montreal unfurnished one-bedroom: $1,636 per month (liv.rent, May 2026)
- Montreal apartment average: $1,920 per month (Zumper, June 2026)
- Montreal one-bedroom apartment: $1,700 per month (Zumper, June 2026)
- Montreal two-bedroom apartment: $2,200 per month (Zumper, June 2026)
- Laval average rent: $2,120 per month (Zumper, June 2026)
- Laval one-bedroom apartment: $1,700 per month (Zumper, June 2026)
- Laval two-bedroom apartment: $2,250 per month (Zumper, June 2026)
- Longueuil average rent: $1,662 per month (Zumper, June 2026)
The comparison is interesting because it shows that leaving Montreal does not automatically mean saving money.
Longueuil appears cheaper than Montreal in Zumper’s current data, especially for one-bedroom apartments. Brossard, on the other hand, is not exactly a bargain anymore. Its average rent is close to Montreal’s apartment average, and its one-bedroom average is actually higher than Montreal’s one-bedroom average in Zumper’s data.
Laval is also not automatically cheaper. Zumper’s current data shows Laval’s average rent above Montreal’s average, although Laval’s one-bedroom apartment average is slightly lower than Montreal’s one-bedroom average.
In other words, renters need to compare actual listings, not just assume that moving off-island will save them money. Not to mention the added task of traveling into the city for work, school, or leisure activities.
Why has Montreal rent dropped?
The likely answer is simply more availability. This is a noticeable decline, even if it’s not a crash in the rental market.
The broader Canadian rental market has also been dropping a bit. Rentals.ca and Urbanation reported that average asking rent in Canada fell to $2,008 in March 2026, a 35-month low. They also reported that rents were down 5.3% year-over-year, marking the 18th straight month of annual rent declines (Rentals.ca and Urbanation, April 2026 report).
CMHC has pointed to a similar explanation at the national level. In its 2025 Rental Market Report, CMHC said the rental market cooled off because fewer new renter households were forming, while more rental units became available. CMHC also reported that the national purpose-built apartment vacancy rate rose from 2.2% in 2024 to 3.1% in 2025 (CMHC, 2025 Rental Market Report).
In plain English, there are more rental units competing for tenants in some markets, and renters are more cautious because everything else is expensive too. When there are more listings, more vacancies, or slower demand, landlords and property managers may have to compete harder.
That doesn’t mean Montreal renters suddenly have it easy. It simply means the market may be a little less brutal than it was during the peak of the rent surge.
The Neighbourhood Still Matters
Average rent numbers are useful, but they only tell part of the story. A downtown apartment, Plateau apartment, Griffintown condo, older unit in Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, place near a metro station in Verdun, and a newer building in Laval or Brossard are not the same thing. Even within the same city, prices can vary widely depending on the building, neighbourhood, transit access, apartment condition, and whether the unit is furnished or unfurnished. That’s why renters should use these numbers as a starting point, not a final answer.
So, is Montreal rent better in 2026?
A little, but not enough to call it affordable. The good news is that some rental data shows Montreal rent has cooled, especially for unfurnished one-bedroom apartments. The bad news is that rents are still high compared with what many Montrealers were used to paying in the past.
For renters, the best move is to compare listings across multiple platforms, watch prices for a few weeks, and look carefully at neighbourhoods rather than just city names. Longueuil may offer better value in some cases. Brossard and Laval may be worth considering, but they are not automatically cheaper than Montreal.
Montreal is still expensive. But in 2026, renters may have a little more room to shop around than they did a couple of years ago.
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