Toronto's rental market now the most expensive in Canada

Anyone searching for an apartment in Toronto already knows just how expensive rent is in this city, but to start the year we've now reached a troubling milestone. When it comes to one-bedroom apartments, Toronto is now the most expensive city in the country. 

According to data collected by Padmapper, Vancouver previously held the title of most expensive city to rent in Canada, and still outpaces us when it comes to two-bedroom units, but a 2.5 per cent price bump in January has put Toronto in pole position in the most popular category.

Padmapper now lists the median price for a one-bedroom in Toronto at $2,020, with Vancouver just behind at $2,000. With two-bedrooms, on the other hand, Toronto comes in at $2,520 and Vancouver at a whopping $3,200.

This is the first time since Padmapper started to track rental prices in Canada that Toronto has surpassed Vancouver for the top spot in either the one- or two-bedroom category. In general, it's the price of the former that's used as the benchmark for gauging a city's rental market. 

If there's any light at the end of the tunnel, it's that there are numerous rental-focused developments in the works across the city. These could eventually help ease the supply issues that plague Toronto's rental market, which have result in a vacancy rate of just 1.4 per cent.