Sudbury sees 2nd highest rent spike in Canada

[00:00:00]According to data from Stats Canada, Sudbury had the second highest year-over-year rent increase across the country. CTV's Lindsay Aylek brings us local reaction.

[00:00:12]>> The data shows that Sudbury two-bedroom apartments went from an average asking price of 1,830 in the first quarter of 2025 to 1,970 in the first quarter of 2026.

[00:00:26]>> I have a little bit of disagreement with that and I'll tell you why.

[00:00:31]When we hit COVID 21-22, yes, the rents were skyrocketed and we never saw anything like that in Sudbury.

[00:00:38]And since then, things have come down a little bit, stabilized, maybe went back up a little bit, stabilized. So, it's kind of a fluctuating thing.

[00:00:47]>> Jordan has been in property management in the city for over 25 years and she says she feels new builds are having an impact, but that things are always changing.

[00:00:57]>> We're now rolling into the kids all getting out of school. So, it's going to slow down a little bit in in my area anyways as far as renting because lots of people leave for part of July with their kids, you know, in in both markets, sales and in in rental. So, it'll slow down a little bit, but it'll pick up mid-August when the university and college kids come back.

[00:01:17]>> Meanwhile, Scott Florence with the Sudbury Workers Education and and Advocacy Centre says he hears from people every day about not only the cost of rent, but whether or not they will have a place at all.

[00:01:30]>> Workers that are coming to us because their hours have been cut or they've lost their jobs, uh they become super concerned about losing their place to live because they know that if they lose the place that they're in, that they're not going to be able to find another place that is anywhere near as affordable.

[00:01:46]>> He says the two things he'd like to see is the return of rent control and provincial and federal governments get back into the business of building subsidized housing.

[00:01:55]>> It's not a market-driven issue that needs to be addressed. This is a policy issue and government needs to get involved by putting in rent control, creating more rent-geared-to-income housing, and bringing in better protections for tenants so that landlords have to do the work around maintenance and quality of life to make sure that tenants have housing that they can live in and enjoy.

[00:02:18]>> The 7.7% increase year-over-year in rent puts Sudbury as the second highest in the country. Only Saskatoon had a higher percentage at 9.4%.

[00:02:32]Lindsay Alex, CTV News, Sudbury.