Quebec Rents in 2026: Increases Are Slowing, Affordability Is Not Coming Back

In short — Quebec's average rent has reached $1,232 a month, up 10.1% in one year and 62% since October 2018, per CMHC data read by housing coalition FRAPRU. For 2026, CMHC expects more moderate increases and vacancy between 2.5% and 4.5% in the major centres. But slowing is not falling, and it is even further from affordable: it takes $49,240 in annual income to pay the average rent without crossing the 30% affordability threshold. Here is where Quebec rents actually stand, numbers in hand.

For years the question was "how much higher will rents go?". In 2026 it becomes more subtle: increases are slowing, vacancy is climbing, and yet nobody feels housing getting cheaper. Both observations are true at once — and understanding why is the best defence against spin, in either direction.

The starting numbers: $1,232, +10.1%, +62%

The most recent portrait of Quebec's rental market comes from CMHC's Rental Market Report, which FRAPRU unpacked in December 2025. Three figures sum it up:

• $1,232: the average rent in Quebec;
• +10.1%: the increase from 2024 to 2025;
• +62.1%: the cumulative increase since October 2018.

In other words, the average rent has gained more than 60% in seven years — a trajectory we break down in our state of the housing crisis in 2026 and our 5 numbers to understand the crisis.

FRAPRU translates that average rent into required income: to spend no more than 30% of gross income on housing — the standard affordability norm — a household needs $49,240 a year. That is where the gap opens: a large share of tenant households earn less.

Region by region: gaps that surprise

Provincial averages hide very different situations, per the same data:

Gatineau, not Montreal, posts the highest average rent in the table. And outside the major centres, things can be tighter still: we documented increases of about 55% in Val-d'Or since 2018 in our analysis of why rents are exploding in the regions.

2026: the promised slowdown

For the current year, CMHC's Housing Market Outlook signals a change of pace: more moderate increases than 2025, and vacancy rates forecast between 2.5% and 4.5% in the major centres — 3.8% in Montreal, 3.3% in Quebec City, 4.3% in Gatineau. Two engines explain the easing: rental supply from the construction boom of recent years is reaching the market, and population growth is slowing.

That is a real improvement for anyone hunting for an apartment: more choice, shorter lines at viewings. But read the fine print: CMHC still projects average rents rising — around $1,405 for a two-bedroom in Montreal and $1,400 in Quebec City.

Why a slowdown is not affordability

The paradox comes down to how the housing stock is composed. Units that turn over or come out of the ground are listed at today's market prices, well above the rents of long-standing leases. Every move, every newly delivered tower pulls the average upward, even as the general pace of increases cools. Rising vacancy gives tenants back some bargaining power — it does not bring back 2018 prices.

FRAPRU's conclusion is blunt: the shortage is easing, but the affordability crisis is deepening. The problem is no longer only finding a unit; it is finding one at a price real incomes can carry.

The only durable exit: build cheaper

If new units reach the market at out-of-reach rents, it is largely because they are expensive to produce. This is where the question lands on our turf: modular construction against the housing crisis attacks precisely the cost of production — factory fabrication, compressed timelines, volume.

The 478-unit prefab contract of the Société de développement de l'Est is the most concrete demonstration to date: about $313,000 per door according to the organization, and target rents of $700 to $1,100 a month — a long way from the averages in the table above. Slowing increases will not produce those rents; housing built differently, at controlled cost, will.

Is your organization, municipality or rental project looking to price that path? We can prepare a quote request together. And for tenants and landlords navigating lease renewal, our 2026 rent increase guide gathers the official rules and rates.