As rents decline and vacancies rise in many Canadian cities, landlords are increasingly offering incentives to attract tenants. Rentals.ca reports that roughly one in five rental listings in Canada now includes some form of move-in incentive.
These incentives vary widely, from one or more months of free rent to waived parking or utility fees, gift cards, and cash bonuses.
New builds in the GTHA offering the most incentives
Source: Rentals.ca
New purpose-built rental apartments in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA) are among the most aggressive in offering incentives. These new developments are not only competing with each other for tenants but also facing a growing supply of condos entering the secondary rental market.
According to Urbanation, two-thirds of new rental projects in the GTHA offered incentives in the first quarter of 2026, up from 62 percent a year earlier and just 32 percent two years prior.
The most common incentive was two months of free rent, offered by nearly half of projects—up from 32 percent in 2025. Other frequently advertised perks included a cash move-in bonus (17 percent), included parking or storage lockers (9 percent), 1.5 months of free rent (6 percent), three months free (4 percent), and internet included (4 percent).
Gap between asking rent and effective rent is widening
The average incentive in Q1 2026 reduced advertised rent by roughly $379 per month for a typical GTHA unit, compared with $292 in 2025 and $163 in 2024. At the market peak in 2023, the average discount was about $76 per month.
On a per-square-foot basis, advertised asking rents averaged $4.05, while effective rents after incentives dropped to $3.52, reflecting the growing influence of concessions on the market.
Ottawa’s vacancy rate has doubled in two years
In Ottawa, the vacancy rate for stabilized rental buildings reached 3.2 percent in Q1 2026, roughly double the rate two years earlier. While asking rents remained relatively steady at $3.28 per square foot, incentive-adjusted rents fell to $2.91—a discount of about 11.4 percent.
The most common offers in Ottawa were two months free, followed by one month free and occasionally three months free. Areas showing the largest reductions in effective rent included Gloucester, Britannia/Carlingwood, and Carlington/Iris, where effective rents were reduced by more than 14 percent.
As landlords continue to compete for tenants, prospective renters may find meaningful savings through move-in incentives, while landlords weigh the trade-off between lowering effective rents and filling vacancies more quickly.