Kingston’s median asking rent for a one-bedroom apartment fell 6.3 per cent in June, according to Zumper’s Monthly Canadian Rent Report.
This comes as Statistics Canada found Kingston recorded the largest year-over-year decline in listed rental price of any census metropolitan area in Canada.
The Statistics Canada report also found that the average asking rent for a two-bedroom apartment in Kingston fell by nearly six per cent in the first quarter of 2026 compared with the same period last year.
Both Zumper and Statistics Canada based their findings on rental information posted on major online platforms. This data would not include private landlords who don’t use them or long-term sublets, marketed through Facebook or word of mouth.
The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) — who publish rental market statistics summaries based on survey samples — found the average rent in Kingston has been, overall, trending upwards and sits at $1,713 as of October 2025. The average rental prices in 2024 and 2023 were $1,596 and $1,525 respectively.
On July 10 the Ontario government announced Kingston would receive $3.2 million through the Building Faster Fund, which supports municipalities that meet at least 80 per cent of their provincially assigned housing targets.
Last year, the city broke ground on 1,011 new homes, exceeding its annual target by 26 per cent.
In the provincial announcement, Mayor Bryan Paterson said, “Surpassing our provincial housing target is a reflection of the work happening across our city and the collaboration between all levels of government, builders, partners and our community. The Building Faster Fund recognizes that progress and helps support the infrastructure and initiatives needed to keep housing moving from plans to reality.”
When presenting Kingston with the check, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Rob Flack said this money was intended to address infrastructure requirements.
“The biggest risk to housing in the province is the need for infrastructure because without water, wastewater, storm sewers, and road transportation, housing can’t be built,” he said.
At this event, Ontario announced the Municipal Housing Infrastructure Program will award nearly $7 million to Kingston. This will fund the support infrastructure needed to build more then 4,000 additional homes.
Over the past month, Kingston fell from sixth to eighth place in Zumper’s ranking of one-bedroom rental markets. Despite the recent decline in asking rents, Kingston remains among the 10 most expensive rental markets in Canada.
Aman Kakar, Comm ’26, shared he found two of his last three housing arrangements through Facebook.
“Based on my experience, Facebook groups, Marketplace, and personal networks are often more important than major rental websites. Some of the better-located houses are effectively passed from one student group to another,” he said.
Kakar, said he found the current rental market “generally expensive for students”. Additional costs and utilities made it difficult to judge pricing.
“In my experience, the estimates provided before moving in were often much lower than the actual amount we ended up paying,” he said
Speaking to The Globe and Mail, Paterson said, “Whether you like the results or not, supply and demand will drive pricing. We’ve known for a number of years that there’s been a supply issue. We simply haven’t been building enough housing to keep up with demand, and that’s what has led to higher prices. We’ve worked hard over the last few years to reverse that trend.”
In 2023, Kingston set a target of 8,000 new homes by 2031 in their Municipal Housing Pledge to the province. Since then, Kingston has produced 3,108 housing starts, according to announcements from 2023, 2024, and 2025.
Watson & Associates’ 2024 Development Charges Background Study projects that Kingston will add 10,918 residential units between mid-2024 and mid-2034, while the population in new households is projected to increase by 22,393 over the same period.
Tags
Decline in rent, rent, Statistics Canada
All final editorial decisions are made by the Editor(s) in Chief and/or the Managing Editor. Authors should not be contacted, targeted, or harassed under any circumstances. If you have any grievances with this article, please direct your comments to eic@queensjournal.ca.