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Canada's Rent Slide Is Finally Stalling — What It Means If You Rent or Rent Out

  Published August 13, 2026 For nearly two years, "Canadian rents are falling" has been one of the safest headlines in personal finance. The August 2026 National Rent Report from Rentals.ca and Urbanation, released last week, suggests that streak may finally be running out of road — and the shift matters whether you're the one paying rent or the one collecting it. The Numbers National avg. asking rent (July) $2,037 Year-over-year change -4.0% (22nd straight monthly decline) Month-over-month change +0.2% (4th straight monthly rise) Toronto, month-over-month +1.6% to $2,577 Falling, But Not as Fast Rent is still dropping on a year-over-year basis nationally — that's now been true for 22 straight months. But the pace of the decline has been easing since it bottomed out in March, and July marked the smallest annual drop since February. On a month-to-month basis, rent has now risen for four months running, which typically happens every summer as the market hits its season...

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Liberals and NDP Push GST Holiday Bill Through House of Commons


The House of Commons has passed legislation that will remove the federal sales tax for two months from a range of items, including children's toys, books, restaurant meals, and takeout, as well as beer and wine.

As expected, the NDP helped the minority Liberals push the exemption through Thursday night. The Conservatives voted against the bill, calling the measure a "temporary two-month tax trick," as did the Bloc Québécois. The bill, which the Liberals and NDP agreed to fast-track through the usual procedural steps, now goes to the Senate. Once passed, the legislation will provide a GST rebate beginning Dec. 14 and lasting until Feb. 15, 2025.

The Liberals originally pitched the tax holiday along with a plan to send $250 cheques to the 18.7 million people in Canada who worked in 2023 and earned $150,000 or less. However, some Canadians have raised concerns about being excluded from the millions who would receive those cheques. The NDP threatened to withhold support for the entire package if the government didn't split the promises into two pieces of legislation. The Liberals did not include the cheques measure in the bill the House of Commons passed Thursday night. It is unclear when they might present that legislation.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said in a media statement on Wednesday that his party will support the cheque measure later if the Liberals expand it to include more Canadians, "including seniors, people with disabilities and injured workers". Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has billed the tax holiday as an affordability measure aimed at alleviating cost-of-living pressures. Some economists have cautioned that the measure could have inflationary consequences later this spring.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said the government should instead adopt his policy suggestions by scrapping the carbon tax and removing the GST from new homes sold for under $1 million. "My tax cuts are not just about lowering costs. They're about sparking more production," he said.



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