{
  "id": "rental-vacancy-rate",
  "category": "Housing and homelessness",
  "title": "Rental homes available (vacancy rate)",
  "geography": "Victoria census metropolitan area (Greater Victoria), with the City of Victoria shown separately",
  "scope": "region",
  "levels": [
    "Market (private landlords)",
    "Municipal and Provincial housing policy"
  ],
  "plain_question": "Out of every 100 purpose-built rental apartments, how many were empty and available to rent?",
  "value": 3.3,
  "display_value": "3.3%",
  "unit": "% of rental apartments vacant",
  "period": "October 2025 survey",
  "period_start": "2025-10-01",
  "period_end": "2025-10-31",
  "comparison": {
    "previous_period": "October 2024 survey",
    "previous_value": 2.6,
    "change_percent": 0.7,
    "change_unit": "percentage points"
  },
  "significance": {
    "significant": true,
    "text": "CMHC marks the year-over-year change as statistically significant"
  },
  "since_text": "Was 2.6% in 2024. City of Victoria 3.2% (was 2.5%)",
  "trend": "improving",
  "trend_basis": "3.3% in October 2025 compared with 2.6% in October 2024 (CMHC quality a; change marked statistically significant: yes). City of Victoria (zones 1–4): 3.2% compared with 2.5%.",
  "direction_good": "up",
  "right_direction": "A higher number means more rental apartments were available, which generally makes it easier to find one.",
  "caveats": [
    "This is CMHC's headline vacancy rate: purpose-built rental apartments in buildings with three or more units. Earlier versions of this site showed 3.1% for 2025, which is Statistics Canada's series for buildings with six or more units only; that explains the difference from CMHC's 3.3%.",
    "Condos, basement suites and houses for rent are not included.",
    "A vacant unit is not necessarily affordable. This number says nothing about price; see average rent.",
    "A single October survey is a snapshot, not an average over the year. CMHC tests whether each change is statistically significant; this page uses that test.",
    "The area is the Victoria census metropolitan area, which is larger than the City of Victoria. City figures are CMHC's zones 1 to 4."
  ],
  "charts": [
    {
      "title": "Vacancy rate, private apartments (3+ units)",
      "fmt": "dec1",
      "unit": "%",
      "lines": [
        {
          "name": "Greater Victoria",
          "area": "cma",
          "series": [
            {
              "period": "2018",
              "value": 1.2
            },
            {
              "period": "2019",
              "value": 1.0
            },
            {
              "period": "2020",
              "value": 2.2
            },
            {
              "period": "2021",
              "value": 1.0
            },
            {
              "period": "2022",
              "value": 1.5
            },
            {
              "period": "2023",
              "value": 1.6
            },
            {
              "period": "2024",
              "value": 2.6
            },
            {
              "period": "2025",
              "value": 3.3
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "name": "City of Victoria",
          "area": "city",
          "series": [
            {
              "period": "2020",
              "value": 2.3
            },
            {
              "period": "2021",
              "value": 1.0
            },
            {
              "period": "2022",
              "value": 1.4
            },
            {
              "period": "2023",
              "value": 1.6
            },
            {
              "period": "2024",
              "value": 2.5
            },
            {
              "period": "2025",
              "value": 3.2
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "refs": [
        {
          "key": "hnr3",
          "style": "higher",
          "label": "3% healthy vacancy rate used in the Province’s housing needs method (June 2024 guidance)",
          "short": "3% in provincial housing needs method",
          "area": "Each municipality",
          "source": "Province of B.C., HNR Method Technical Guidance (Housing Needs Reports) (June 2024, page 11)",
          "url": "https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/housing-and-tenancy/tools-for-government/uploads/hnr_method_technical_guidelines.pdf",
          "steps": [
            {
              "start": "2024-06-01",
              "end": null,
              "value": 3
            }
          ],
          "end": "3% (provincial method)"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "breakdown_title": "City of Victoria",
  "breakdown": [
    {
      "label": "City of Victoria (CMHC zones 1–4)",
      "value": 3.2,
      "display_value": "3.2% vacant",
      "previous_value": 2.5,
      "period": "October 2025",
      "detail": "Was 2.5% in October 2024; CMHC marks the change as statistically significant."
    }
  ],
  "series": [
    {
      "period": "2018",
      "value": 1.2
    },
    {
      "period": "2019",
      "value": 1.0
    },
    {
      "period": "2020",
      "value": 2.2
    },
    {
      "period": "2021",
      "value": 1.0
    },
    {
      "period": "2022",
      "value": 1.5
    },
    {
      "period": "2023",
      "value": 1.6
    },
    {
      "period": "2024",
      "value": 2.6
    },
    {
      "period": "2025",
      "value": 3.3
    }
  ],
  "refresh_frequency": "Annually (survey in October, published in December)",
  "data_published": "2025-12-17",
  "source": {
    "name": "Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), Rental Market Survey: Rental Market Report data tables for Victoria, 2019 to 2025",
    "url": "https://eppd1strscr01.blob.core.windows.net/cmhcprdcontainer/sf/project/archive/data_tables/data_tables/rental_market_report_data_tables_victoria/rmr-victoria-2025-en.xlsx",
    "dataset_url": "https://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/professionals/housing-markets-data-and-research/housing-data/data-tables/rental-market/rental-market-report-data-tables",
    "table_url": "https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=3410013001",
    "table": "34-10-0130-01",
    "download_url": "https://eppd1strscr01.blob.core.windows.net/cmhcprdcontainer/sf/project/archive/data_tables/data_tables/rental_market_report_data_tables_victoria/rmr-victoria-2025-en.xlsx",
    "publisher_page": "https://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/professionals/housing-markets-data-and-research/market-reports/rental-market-reports-major-centres",
    "locator": "CMHC data table for Victoria (Excel), Table 1.1.1, Victoria CMA row, total vacancy rate, October 2025"
  },
  "licence": {
    "name": "CMHC Licence Agreement for the Use of Data",
    "url": "https://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/about-us/terms-conditions/hmip-terms-conditions",
    "also_listed_as": {
      "name": "Open Government Licence - Canada",
      "url": "https://open.canada.ca/en/open-government-licence-canada"
    },
    "note": "The open.canada.ca record lists this table under the Open Government Licence - Canada; the Statistics Canada table footnote says CMHC's licence governs. Both allow free reuse with attribution."
  },
  "attribution": "Adapted from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, Rental Market Report data table, Victoria (vacancy rates, private apartments), October 2025. This does not constitute an endorsement by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation of this product. Adapted from Statistics Canada, table 34-10-0130-01. This does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada of this product.",
  "retrieved_at": "2026-11-11T10:16:33Z",
  "licence_type": "open",
  "status_rule": {
    "rule": "One rule for every measure: a change smaller than 5% of the earlier value, or smaller than the agency's own margin of error, is “About the same”; no change is calculated across a marked break in a series; homelessness estimates, prices, staffing and comparison pages are shown for context without a label.",
    "reason": "CMHC marks the year-over-year change as statistically significant",
    "threshold_percent": 5.0
  },
  "changes": {
    "year": {
      "period": "October 2024 survey",
      "value": 2.6,
      "text": "vs Oct 2024: +0.7 points"
    },
    "five_year": {
      "period": "2019",
      "years": 6,
      "value": 1.0,
      "comparable": true,
      "text": "vs 2019: +2.3 pt"
    }
  },
  "direction": {
    "type": "outcome",
    "rule": "Outcome measures read Better, Worse or About the same; published government targets read Ahead of, On or Behind target; value-judgement measures read Rising, Falling or Steady in a neutral colour. A change smaller than the agency's own margin of error, or otherwise smaller than 5% of the earlier value, is About the same (or Steady). No change is calculated across a marked break in a series.",
    "key": "better",
    "label": "Better",
    "arrow": "▲",
    "rel": 26.92307692307691,
    "delta": 0.6999999999999997,
    "vs": "October 2024 survey",
    "cur": "October 2025 survey",
    "why": "CMHC marks the year-over-year change as statistically significant",
    "change": "0.7 pt",
    "one_year": "+0.7 pt",
    "five": {
      "period": "2019",
      "comparable": true,
      "delta": 2.3,
      "years": 6,
      "base_2019": true,
      "replaced": "2020",
      "text": "+2.3 pt"
    },
    "five_replaced": {
      "period": "2020",
      "text": "+1.1 pt"
    }
  },
  "source_tier": 1,
  "measure_kind": "outcome",
  "better_measure": null,
  "benchmark": {
    "rung": 2,
    "rung_name": "Higher government target or benchmark",
    "as_of": "2026-11-12",
    "items": [
      {
        "kind": "higher",
        "label": "Higher government target or benchmark",
        "text": "Higher government benchmark: the Province’s housing needs method, in its June 2024 guidance, says rates between 3% and 5% are typically considered healthy and uses 3% when it calculates how many homes a community needs. It is a planning benchmark, not a target with a date. It is drawn from 2024, when that guidance applies.",
        "area": "Each municipality",
        "source": {
          "title": "HNR Method Technical Guidance (Housing Needs Reports)",
          "publisher": "Province of B.C.",
          "date": "June 2024",
          "url": "https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/housing-and-tenancy/tools-for-government/uploads/hnr_method_technical_guidelines.pdf",
          "terms": "https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/home/copyright",
          "refresh": "When the Province revises the guidance",
          "licence": "Public document, not under an open licence. Quoted with attribution.",
          "checked": "2026-11-12",
          "key": "hnr_guide",
          "page": 11
        },
        "documents_checked": null
      }
    ],
    "drawn": [
      "3% healthy vacancy rate used in the Province’s housing needs method (June 2024 guidance)"
    ],
    "rule": "Highest rung found is shown; the site never sets a target. Methods, Targets."
  },
  "benchmarks": [
    {
      "rung": 2,
      "kind": "target",
      "label": "3% healthy vacancy rate used in the Province’s housing needs method (June 2024 guidance)",
      "short": "3% (provincial method)",
      "unit": "%",
      "set_by": "BC",
      "instrument": "guidance",
      "document": "hnr_guide",
      "page": 11,
      "area": "Each municipality",
      "fit": "full",
      "same_area": false,
      "polarity": "floor",
      "chart": 0,
      "value": 3,
      "applies_from": "2024-06-01",
      "applies_to": null,
      "path": false,
      "document_url": "https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/housing-and-tenancy/tools-for-government/uploads/hnr_method_technical_guidelines.pdf",
      "applies_here": false,
      "same_measure": true
    }
  ],
  "highest_rung": 2,
  "decided_by": [
    {
      "body": "MUN",
      "name": "Municipal councils of Greater Victoria (13)",
      "decides": "Each council decides zoning and approves new housing in its own area.",
      "laws": [
        {
          "key": "lga479",
          "label": "Local Government Act, s. 479",
          "url": "https://www.bclaws.gov.bc.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/r15001_14#section479"
        }
      ],
      "last": null,
      "next": null
    },
    {
      "body": "BC",
      "name": "Province of B.C.",
      "decides": "Can set housing targets for a municipality.",
      "laws": [
        {
          "key": "hsa2",
          "label": "Housing Supply Act, s. 2",
          "url": "https://www.bclaws.gov.bc.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/22038#section2"
        }
      ],
      "last": null,
      "next": null
    },
    {
      "body": "CAN",
      "name": "Government of Canada and Parliament",
      "decides": "Finances and insures housing loans through Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.",
      "laws": [
        {
          "key": "nha3",
          "label": "National Housing Act, s. 3",
          "url": "https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/N-11/FullText.html"
        }
      ],
      "last": null,
      "next": null
    }
  ],
  "main_decision_maker": "Municipal councils of Greater Victoria (13)",
  "label_1y": {
    "key": "better",
    "label": "Better"
  },
  "label_long": {
    "key": "better",
    "label": "Better",
    "years": 6,
    "change": "+2.3 pt"
  },
  "target_line": {
    "form": 3,
    "text": "B.C. planning benchmark 3% · 0.3 pts above",
    "target": 3.0,
    "gap": "0.3 pts above",
    "comparison": null,
    "applies_here": false,
    "note": null
  }
}