How FairRent Canada works

What the score means

The FairRent Score compares the price you enter with FairRent's local estimate. It does not measure home condition, landlord service, household affordability or lawful rent.

A high score means the rent is low against that comparison. It is not proof of a good deal, because the comparison knows nothing about the home. A low score means the rent is high against that comparison. It is not proof of overcharging.

Where the estimate comes from

We use the sources listed below. Housing surveys, advertised rents and rents reported by tenants measure different things. The source dates and the amount of local data matter when reading a result.

Every estimate starts from a city baseline for the type of home, built from CMHC and Statistics Canada figures as the next section shows. A neighbourhood adjustment is then applied. Neighbourhood adjustments are set by hand by FairRent, with no recorded source. The adjustment is an input to the estimate, not a measured difference across every rental home in the area. Nothing recalculates it when a source publishes.

Where the relevant group meets the rules below, rents reported by renters are blended into that baseline. The weight rises with the number of reports and never reaches 100 percent.

If your rent includes parking or utilities, the comparison figure is raised by a fixed amount that FairRent set. The amounts are listed under inclusion adjustments below. They are assumptions, not measured values. Reported rents already contain whatever mix of inclusions an area has, so the adjustment is faded out as reported rents take over the estimate. Without the fade the same premium would be counted twice. A skipped inclusion answer is stored as not stated and applies no adjustment; it is never read as a no.

How the city baseline is built

Each city baseline is half what renters signed and half what landlords are asking. The signed half is CMHC's average rent for homes that changed tenants in its October survey. CMHC states that figure for 2 bedroom homes. For other sizes we apply the same ratio between turnover rent and average rent to CMHC's average rent for that size.

The asking half is Statistics Canada's average asking rent for each city's metropolitan area, from its Quarterly rent statistics, which are built from rental listings. For Ottawa, the figure used is the one Statistics Canada publishes for Ottawa (Ontario part of the Ottawa-Gatineau census metropolitan area). FairRent uses the 2 bedroom figure for each city. For other sizes we scale it using the same ratio between asking and signed rent. Using one ratio for every size is an assumption. It has not been checked against a source that states signed and asking rents for each size, and Statistics Canada's table does state other sizes, which FairRent does not yet read.

Gatineau (QC side) is an area on the Ottawa rent check, but no CMHC or Statistics Canada figure for Gatineau itself is used. Its estimate starts from the Ottawa baseline, which describes Ottawa (Ontario part of the Ottawa-Gatineau census metropolitan area) on the asking side and CMHC's Ottawa table on the signed side, with the neighbourhood adjustment FairRent sets by hand. That makes every Gatineau figure a proxy, not a measured Gatineau figure, and its page and its results say so.

CMHC counts signed rents, but only in purpose-built rental buildings and once a year. Statistics Canada counts advertised rents, condos included, every quarter. The first tends to run low where condos rent for more. The second runs high, because a listing price is not a lease. Giving each half equal weight is our choice, not a measurement.

CMHC reports homes with 3 or more bedrooms as one group, so the baseline for 4 or more bedrooms is the same figure as for 3 bedrooms, and the table says so on that row. Reported rents for the two stay separate.

• Ottawa: the 2 bedroom turnover rent of $2,155 divided by the 2 bedroom average rent of $1,926 gives a ratio of about 1.1189. The average rent for each other size is multiplied by this ratio to give its signed rent.
• Toronto: the 2 bedroom turnover rent of $2,547 divided by the 2 bedroom average rent of $2,034 gives a ratio of about 1.2522. The average rent for each other size is multiplied by this ratio to give its signed rent.
• Vancouver: the 2 bedroom turnover rent of $2,696 divided by the 2 bedroom average rent of $2,363 gives a ratio of about 1.1409. The average rent for each other size is multiplied by this ratio to give its signed rent.

The 2 bedroom average in the ratio is the apartment figure from CMHC's report card for each city. The average rents by size come from CMHC's data portal, which also counts row houses, so its 2 bedroom figure is not the same number. Figures are shown rounded to the dollar and the ratio to four decimal places. Each step uses the unrounded figure, so a step redone from the printed figures can come out a dollar different.

Figures in use: Rental Market Survey, October 2025, published by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC); Quarterly rent statistics, table 46-10-0092-01, first quarter of 2026, published by Statistics Canada. Market data last reviewed: October 2026.

Asking rents, signed rents and reported rents

Different sources measure different things, and the distinction matters.

Statistics Canada's quarterly rent statistics show asking rents: the prices landlords advertised in rental listings during the quarter. Asking rents move quickly with the market, but they reflect what landlords want to charge, not what tenants sign for. The figures are published about ten weeks after each quarter ends.

The CMHC Rental Market Survey is carried out in October and covers privately initiated rental structures with three or more rental units, in urban centres of 10,000 people or more. The results are published about two months later, so the figure describes the previous October (current reference period: October 2025). FairRent uses the census metropolitan area figures for each city, checked on the first of every month; the review date is shown on every result. CMHC runs a separate survey, the CMHC Secondary Rental Market Survey, covering condominium apartments offered for rent, in selected large centres; FairRent does not use it.

FairRent uses CMHC's rent for homes that changed tenants, which is closer to what a new renter signs than the average across all tenancies. Because the survey is published once a year, its figure is up to 14 months old before the next one replaces it.

Rent submissions from renters show what renters report paying. This data is recent and specific to one home, but the sample is smaller and self-reported.

FairRent combines the three so each source covers part of what the others miss. The result is an estimate, not an appraisal.

Why we only show grouped data

We never display individual rent submissions publicly. Every result you see on FairRent is a group statistic: a range, a median for a group that meets the minimum size, a banded count, or a confidence label.

There are two reasons. First, renter privacy. Grouping reduces the risk of identification but does not eliminate it. The minimum group size is a safeguard, not a guarantee of anonymity, and the privacy policy sets out what that does and does not protect against.

Second, statistical honesty. A single submission is noisy. It might reflect a friend deal, a long controlled tenancy, or one unusual building. Medians and ranges across many submissions give you a number you can actually use.

FairRent does not publish building-level figures. The rent check does not ask which building you live in, and rent submissions are grouped by neighbourhood and type of home.

How blending works

The community weight determines how much influence rent submissions from renters have on the final estimate. More submissions means more influence, but public data always contributes. The weights are a rule FairRent chose. They have not been checked against independent data.

Public data always contributes to the estimate. The weight given to reported rents never reaches 100 percent. A reported rent below half or above double the city baseline for its type of home, with the neighbourhood adjustment where one is set, is kept and counted, but it is not used in the median. The renter is told so on the result. The rent is flagged rather than deleted. The blend itself can move that baseline by at most 35% down or 35% up. None of these figures is checked against a lease: not the survey rents, not the advertised rents and not the reported rents.

The FairRent Score

The FairRent Score is a single number from 1 to 10 summarizing how your rent compares on price. It is strict by design. A high score is difficult to earn. As of September 2026 it is about price and nothing else: whether a tenancy is rent controlled no longer changes it. Two renters paying the same rent for the same number of bedrooms in the same area now get the same score. Rent increase rules are shown beside the score as their own section. The score combines:

When square footage is not provided, market position is the whole score rather than being topped up by a component we have no input for. Providing your unit size makes the score more specific. When no renter reports are used for your exact neighbourhood and unit type, because there are fewer than 5 or they are too alike, the score is reported in steps of half a point. Public data alone is not precise enough for a tenth of a point.

Score bands

A band describes where a rent sits against the estimate and nothing more. Without a size, the band follows where the rent sits in the estimated rent range, as listed above. With a size, price per square foot is 30% of the score and can move a rent into a higher or lower band. A high score is not proof of a good deal and a low score is not proof of overcharging. The comparison knows the area and the type of home. It knows nothing about the home itself, what is included, or what a household can afford.

The word shown beside the score on a result comes from where the rent sits against the range, not from these bands. It is "Low" below the range, "Fair" anywhere inside it, and "Somewhat high" or "High" above it.

Price per square foot

Average rent is the most commonly cited number in Canadian housing reports. It is also one of the most misleading. A city's average rent can stay flat or even decline while real affordability worsens, because the units being rented are getting smaller.

Price per square foot adds that missing dimension. It tells you what you are paying for the space you get. A home that sounds reasonable by the month can be expensive by the square foot.

When you provide your unit size, we divide your rent by it and compare the result with the stored figure for your city and type of home. That figure is set by FairRent; it is not a neighbourhood median and it is not computed from renter reports. This comparison carries 30% of the score when a size is given. Rents do not always rise in step with floor area, so the comparison is a second view of the same rent, not a more accurate one.

A worked example

$2,000 a month for 600 square feet is $3.33 per square foot. The stored Ottawa figure for a 1 bedroom is $3.10 per square foot, so this rent is 8% above it. The per-square-foot component scores 5.7 out of 10 and is weighted at 30% beside market position. Score version 2.

Stored figures, set by FairRent

Stored figure per square foot, set by FairRent per city and type of home. It is not a neighbourhood median and it is not computed from renter reports.

Inclusion adjustments (product assumptions)

If you say parking or utilities are included, the comparison figure is raised by a fixed amount: $250 for parking and $120 for utilities. These amounts were set by FairRent when the city calculators were built (carried over from the city apps). They are not measured and have not been validated against independent data. The adjustment fades as reported rents take over the estimate. At the top blend weight (80%) only $50 and $24 are applied, because reported rents already contain whatever mix of inclusions an area has.

The CMHC survey average is rent as reported, whatever it includes. The Statistics Canada figure is the asking rent as advertised. We do not assume that either one excludes utilities everywhere. The adjustment is our estimate of the difference for a home that includes them. It is one of the assumptions this page lists.

The same amounts apply in every city.

Sources and assumptions

FairRent Canada reads 4 sources: three feed the estimates and the fourth, the provincial guidelines, is shown beside the score. Each measures something slightly different. Below each one: the link, the release, the reference period, the geography FairRent reads, the statistic, how FairRent uses it, its main limit and when it was last reviewed. Sources FairRent does not use are listed too, and are marked as not used. Figures that FairRent sets itself are listed as assumptions, not as sources. Where nobody recorded how a figure was obtained, we say so rather than invent an explanation.

What is source data and what is a FairRent assumption

The same answer applies in every city. Each published figure is tagged in the code with the registry entry it came from, and this list is read from those tags. Where one figure inside a group is not the group's own figure, it gets its own line here. That happens when it is copied from another category, or when the source reports two categories as one group. Beyond this page, every surface that publishes it carries the same note: the neighbourhood tables, the sample report and the result of a rent check.

• City baselines by type of home: source data (CMHC Rental Market Survey and Statistics Canada Quarterly rent statistics; derivation recorded in code).
• City baselines by type of home (4 or more bedrooms): source data (CMHC Rental Market Survey and Statistics Canada Quarterly rent statistics; derivation recorded in code). The 4 or more bedrooms baseline is the same figure as 3 bedrooms: CMHC reports homes with 3 or more bedrooms as one group.
• Neighbourhood adjustments: FairRent assumption (FairRent assumptions; derivation not recorded).
• Per-square-foot figures: FairRent assumption (FairRent assumptions; derivation not recorded).
• Per-square-foot figures (4 or more bedrooms): FairRent assumption (FairRent assumptions; derivation not recorded). The 4 or more bedrooms figure per square foot is a copy of the figure for 3 or more bedrooms, the older category FairRent no longer uses, and it stays a copy until a source review sets this category its own.
• Inclusion premiums for parking and utilities: FairRent assumption (FairRent assumptions; derivation not recorded).
• City snapshot baselines: source data (CMHC Rental Market Survey and Statistics Canada Quarterly rent statistics; derivation recorded in code).
• City snapshot asking rents: source data (Statistics Canada Quarterly rent statistics; derivation recorded in code).
• City vacancy rates: source data (CMHC Rental Market Survey; derivation recorded in code).

What can be reproduced from a source and what cannot

The step from the source to the published figure is written down for these: CMHC Rental Market Survey, Statistics Canada Quarterly rent statistics, Rent submissions from renters and Provincial rent increase guidelines. The table above states it. The arithmetic published on this page can be repeated as it stands: each city baseline with the CMHC and Statistics Canada figure it is built from, the preset range widths, the weight given to local reports at each report count and the per-square-foot figure for every city and type of home are all printed above.

FairRent assumptions: these have no source to reproduce them from, and nothing on this page claims one. They cover the following: neighbourhood adjustments, per-square-foot figures and inclusion premiums. The list above says which published figures are among them.

Data licences

We use CMHC figures under the CMHC Licence Agreement for the Use of Data, and Statistics Canada figures under the Statistics Canada Open Licence. As FairRent has read them, both licences allow the figures to be used, published and built into other products, including paid ones, as long as the source is named and no endorsement is implied. Neither publisher has reviewed or endorsed FairRent, and FairRent does not use their logos.

We do not use Rentals.ca figures. Earlier versions of this site named Rentals.ca as a source. Its terms of use require written permission to reuse or sell its content and to collect it with automated tools. We do not hold that permission. The asking rents come instead from Statistics Canada's quarterly rent statistics, which Statistics Canada builds mainly from listing data supplied by Rentals.ca and publishes under its open licence.

Both licences are recorded as cleared for paid use. Their conditions are passed on to any buyer of a paid rent report or grouped rent statistics in the terms of use.

The licences:

• CMHC Licence Agreement for the Use of Data
• Statistics Canada Open Licence

The notices the licences ask for:

• Adapted from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, Rental Market Survey, October 2025. This does not constitute an endorsement by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation of this product.
• Adapted from Statistics Canada, Quarterly rent statistics, table 46-10-0092-01, first quarter of 2026. This does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada of this product.
• Source: Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), Rental Market Survey, October 2025. This information is reproduced and distributed on an "as is" basis with the permission of CMHC.
• Source: Statistics Canada, Quarterly rent statistics, table 46-10-0092-01, first quarter of 2026. Reproduced and distributed on an "as is" basis with the permission of Statistics Canada.

Confidence levels

The confidence level reflects how many recent local reports the estimate uses for your exact neighbourhood and type of home. It is not a judgment about whether your rent is fair. The width of the range beside each confidence level is a preset band chosen by how many recent local submissions the estimate uses. It is not a measured spread of local rents and it is not a margin of error from a probability sample.

Observed spread, shown separately

Where a group clears the floor of 5 reports, the result and the neighbourhood table also show the middle half of the reported rents as a separate line. That is the span from the 25th to the 75th percentile. It is an observed spread, not the estimate and not a prediction interval, and it is never shown below the floor.

Versioned rule 2026.10-3: if the middle half of the reported rents is wider than the preset band, the published range is widened, up to the baseline width of 16% either side of the estimate. A diverse group therefore never receives a narrow range only because its report count crossed a threshold. The widened range stays centred on the estimate, so it does not always cover the middle half. Wherever a middle half is published, the line beside it says whether the range covers it or which side it reaches past.

Neither the preset bands nor the widened range has been validated against independent data. Their coverage will be reported on the scorecard once that check has been run on independent data.

Clearing the floor is not the only test. Reported rents are also left out of a figure when fewer than 3 of them differ from one another, when more than 60% of them are the same amount, or when 50% or more of them are one amount sent on one day. A group that fails any of those tests is published without reported rents. Its figure comes from the city baseline, with the neighbourhood adjustment where one is set. A figure built from a few near identical rents points back at the people who sent them, and it says less than it appears to. Identical reports written at the same moment are one observation, however many rows they make.

Known limitations

Not legal or financial advice. The results produced by FairRent Canada are market estimates for general informational purposes only. They are not professional appraisals, legal opinions, or financial advice. If you believe your landlord has charged rent above a legally permitted amount, contact your provincial tenant rights organization or a licensed paralegal.

Updates

Renters can submit information at any time. On the first of each month FairRent checks for new CMHC and Statistics Canada releases and updates the city baselines from them under the rules below. The month of the last check is printed as Market data last reviewed, so a missed month shows.

Review log

Reference periods behind the city baselines: October 2025 (CMHC survey) and first quarter of 2026 (Statistics Canada asking rents).

Last source review: October 2026. Outcome: figures updated.

Next review due: November 2026, 1 month after the last one.

If the promised review is more than 1 month late, every result and every neighbourhood page say so until a review is logged.

If more than 15 months pass without a logged review, the figures are called stale: every result and every neighbourhood page then shows a warning, and the test suite fails until a review is logged. The date changes only with an entry in the review log.

Frequently asked questions

A rent submission asks for no name, email or phone number · What it does hold is listed above · Not legal or financial advice · 2026 FairRent Canada