In Canada’s priciest housing markets, that shift is starting to show up in how agents generate business, with leasing taking on a more prominent role in their day-to-day work.
This is not anecdotal. It reflects measurable market changes. In the GTA, many homeowners who secured ultra-low mortgage rates between 2020 and 2022 are staying put. Investors are reassessing condo exposure. First-time buyers are cautious. In Vancouver, affordability remains stretched, even as a wave of purpose-built rental supply comes online.
When qualification tightens and confidence fades, renting becomes the holding pattern. A rental pivot is underway.
Toronto and Vancouver: Different drivers, same shift
In Toronto, leasing now rivals—and in some cases exceeds—sales activity, offering one of the clearest signals of the shift.
According to TRREB, condo lease transactions rose 19.7% year-over-year in Q1 2024 to 12,541. By late 2025, leases were reportedly outpacing sales across both the 416 and 905, with roughly three leases for every one sale. Just a few years earlier, the two were near parity. In transaction count terms, the MLS has become renter heavy.
In Vancouver, the shift toward rental activity appears more structural than cyclical, and differs meaningfully from Toronto. While leasing in Toronto has largely surged in response to slower resale activity, Vancouver’s rental market is expanding for deeper, longer-term reasons.
CMHC data shows Metro Vancouver’s vacancy rate edging up to about 1.6%. That is still well below a balanced 3% market, but it reflects a meaningful change. Rent growth has also moderated as new supply enters the system.
The more important shift is in construction. 2024 and 2025 marked the strongest expansion in purpose built rental supply in decades. Thousands of new units have come online, particularly in larger, professionally managed buildings. As lease up periods lengthen and competition increases, landlords are relying more on professional leasing strategy, pricing advice, marketing support, and incentives to maintain occupancy.
At the same time, ownership remains out of reach for many households. For a significant portion of Vancouver residents, renting is not a short pause before buying. It is a long-term reality.
Rental activity in Vancouver is not just filling a gap during a slow resale cycle—it is becoming a more permanent pillar of the housing market. For agents, that does not mean abandoning sales. It does mean that leasing expertise, landlord relationships, and rental advisory skills are becoming core competencies rather than side work.
What agents are seeing
The data aligns with practitioner experience. Toronto real estate agent Arun Kumar told me: “2025, I had a lot more leases under my belt than prior years.”
When asked why, he said: “I think people are indecisive and given the economic and political outlook, postponing a buy decision seems less risky for many of them.” He continues to nurture those tenant relationships: “I do stay in touch with the tenants who I hope will become first-time homebuyers soon.”
Toronto agent Mike Petrant sees lease work as strategic: “Yes I certainly think there is something to that. I’ve always been a big proponent of taking on lease work though not with tenants. It’s not a way to earn a living but it does allow me to stay busy, add value to clients and keep my skills sharp.”
He estimates lease listings represent 30% to 40% of his business and notes that many long-term clients began as lease clients early in his career.
Lease work may not produce the largest cheques, but it builds durable relationships. In a market shaped by reduced mobility and renewal pressure, that matters. Today’s tenant is often tomorrow’s buyer.
Elsewhere in Canada
Outside Toronto and Vancouver, there is far less evidence of agents broadly transforming into full-time leasing specialists. The shift is tactical rather than structural.
In Alberta and across the Prairies, rising vacancy and the return of incentives in cities such as Calgary, Winnipeg, and Saskatoon have increased demand for professional tenant placement. However, most Prairie agents still position themselves primarily as resale professionals, using leasing to support investor clients or bridge slower periods.
In Quebec and the Maritimes, the pattern is similar. Montreal and Quebec City have a stronger rental culture and visible leasing platforms, particularly in regulated environments with institutional landlords. Even so, the mainstream brokerage model remains centered on purchases and sales, with leases serving as supplemental income and pipeline development.
In Atlantic Canada, more agents are handling rental files than a few years ago, but it remains complementary work rather than a structural migration toward leasing only careers.
In short, outside Canada’s two most expensive markets, leasing is expanding at the margin. It is not redefining the profession.
A broader trend taking shape
Globally, cities such as New York and London treat leasing as a dedicated vertical supported by institutional ownership. Edinburgh has entrenched letting agencies in a regulated market. Hong Kong has seen developers pivot projects into rental when sales softened.
Toronto and Vancouver are not fully there. Toronto still relies heavily on small private landlords and investor owned condos. Vancouver remains culturally ownership focused despite affordability pressures.
However, both cities are moving along that spectrum. Institutional capital is expanding purpose built rental supply. Leasing expertise is becoming more formalized.
What this means for the market
Between 2025 and 2026, Canada is moving through one of the largest mortgage renewal cycles in its history. Higher payments are reducing mobility and dampening listings. Some households are choosing to rent rather than stretch into ownership.
From a mortgage perspective, that pattern is familiar. Many eventual buyers begin with years of caution. The professionals who stay engaged during the rental phase are often the ones who benefit when confidence returns.
Leasing may not be the most glamorous segment of the business, and it may not generate the largest commissions per file. In transitional markets, however, it is strategic.
In Toronto and Vancouver alike, the rental channel is carrying more weight than it did a few years ago. When renters re-enter the ownership market, the question will be simple: Who did they call first?
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Last modified: March 26, 2026