Vancouver has finally, at long last, surpassed Toronto once again to become the most expensive market for one-bedroom rentals in Canada  — an unwanted title the latter city has held since July of 2018.

That's right, our one-time west coast rival for highest median apartment prices is back on the board after nearly two-and-a-half years of coming in second.

That is, according to Padmapper's monthly Canadian Rent Report, which has been keeping tabs on the country's 24 most-populous metro areas since 2016.

After analysing rental data from "hundreds of thousands of active listings across the country," Padmapper found that Vancouver boasts the highest median rent prices as of December 2020 for both one-bedroom and two-bedroom units.

Vancouver is once again Canada's priciest city for one-bedroom apartment rentals after surpassing Toronto in December of 2020. Image via Padmapper.

Now, Vancouver has long held the top spot for two-bedroom prices, and at one point was even in tight competition with Toronto for one-bedroom listings.

Not since June of 2018, however, has the west coast city dethroned mighty Toronto in the one-bedroom rent price department — and even then, it was only by $20 (Vancouver median rents were $2,o90 at the time while Toronto sat at $2,070.)

Funnily enough, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, rent prices are actually down by 11 per cent, year-over-year, in Canada's newly-crowned priciest city for tenants. The median rent for a one-bedroom in Vancouver is currently $1,950 per month.

Toronto rents are down as well, of course — by 17 per cent since the same time last year, according to Padmapper, and by as much as 20 per cent by other estimates — reaching just $1,900 on average.

This is the lowest price Padmapper has recorded for median one-bedroom rents in Toronto since August of 2017. Wilder still? Analysts expect rent prices to keep falling in Canada's largest urban centre well through the first half of 2021.

Here's a full breakdown of where all 24 major metro areas in Canada stand in terms of median rent prices for various unit sizes as of right now:

This graph shows median rent prices for 24 cities in Canada for December of 2020, as well as year-over-year and month-over-month changes. via PadMapper.