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Written By
Steve Tustin
Mar 6, 2025
•Pre-Arrival
Finding affordable rental apartments in Canada can be challenging for newcomers and international students. This overview offers valuable tips on finding accommodation in Canada and preparing for a successful housing search. While finding a short-term rental before you arrive is vital, the hard work is finding affordable long-term housing. Researching the housing market before you arrive will provide you with information about rental prices in Canada.
Rental prices in Canada soared in recent years. Prices rose in Edmonton, Saskatoon, and Regina, as people left high-rent cities like Toronto and Vancouver in search of more affordable rent. Only recently have prices started to fall, a trend experts say will continue throughout 2025. However, while rental prices are decreasing in many cities, affordability remains an issue.
Many newcomers turn to Rentals for Newcomers (RFN) to find accommodation in Canada.
Why has RFN become so popular with newcomers seeking their first rental home in Canada? RFN helps people avoid the headaches, heartaches, and expenses of their rental search by promoting landlords who value newcomers.
For immigrants arriving in Canada’s competitive rental market, Rentals for Newcomers is invaluable. Plus, it’s FREE, but you must create an account! Register for free and connect with landlords.
Rent prices vary across Canada, and some cities offer more affordable housing options. Researching and comparing rental prices can help you identify affordable cities. Equally important is exploring the local job market to ensure suitable job opportunities in your field exist. Researching local housing prices and job market conditions is the best way to build a strong financial foundation in Canada.
Newcomers seeking accommodation in Canada must research the rental market before arriving. Knowing the rental landscape can help you find your first home more quickly. Rentals for Newcomers is a great place to begin your research and find affordable apartments in Canada.
In addition to hosting rental listings from across Canada, RFN (a Prepare for Canada resource) provides:
Dave Frattini, the Managing Partner at Prepare for Canada and Rentals for Newcomers, says RFN is an invaluable tool to find accommodation in Canada.
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REGISTER FOR THE WEBINAR“Searching for affordable accommodation in Canada is more difficult than ever for newcomers,” said Frattini. He offers these tips to prepare to find rental accommodation in Canada:
Frattini emphasizes that “newcomers must put their best foot forward when they meet landlords. Landlords can select the pick of the crop tenants for affordable rentals in prime locations.”
“Rentals for Newcomers is a great example of a partner agency,” said Jesse Greenwell, head of Communications Culture and Inclusivity at Mainstreet Equity Corp. Mainstreet is a leading real estate company for mid-market apartment rentals in Western Canada, “which can help prepare newcomers for Canada’s rental market.”
RFN has access to the latest rental technology, tools, insights, and trends. This rental
technology allows RFN to verify landlords and ensure that scam listings are not on its site to protect newcomers. Sites like Craigslist and Kijiji are vulnerable to rental scams that target newcomers.
“Importantly, our listings are well managed,” said Frattini. “The platform is driven digitally and manually and we inform and update our audience about scams in the rental market in blog posts.”
Although rent prices are slowly decreasing and vacancy rates are improving, finding accommodation in Canada remains challenging for newcomers. Experts say this trend will continue throughout 2025. So, it’s vital to research and prepare to find your first long-term rental. Using Rentals for Newcomers can make your search easier, and faster, and help you avoid rental scams.
WRITTEN BY
Steve Tustin
Senior Editor, Prepare for Canada
Steve Tustin is the Editor for Rentals for Newcomers and a contributing editor for Prepare for Canada. He is also the former managing editor of Storeys.com and a former senior editor at the Globe and Mail and the Toronto Star.
© Prepare for Canada 2025
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