Victoria indicatorsVacancy in the lowest-rent quarter of apartments
1.1% of the lowest-rent quarter
A range the CRD’s growth strategy report recommends for this measure, not a target the CRD Board adopted. Targets and comparisons
Up 0.9 points in a year.
Source: CMHC. We read it on Nov 12, 2026.
Over time
Vacancy rate by rent quartile, Greater Victoria (October each year)
2025 By year
- Lowest-rent quarter 1.1%
- Second quarter 1.7%
- Third quarter 5.8%
- Highest-rent quarter 5.0%
CRD recommended range 2% to 4%
P provincial election: Oct 19, 2024F federal election: Apr 28, 2025
Targets and comparisons
Higher government target or benchmark
Regional benchmark: the CRD’s growth strategy indicators report, for this same measure, says higher vacancy rates across all prices are preferable and that recommended vacancy rates range between 2% and 4%. It is a recommended range in a report, not a target the CRD Board adopted.
Source: Regional Growth Strategy Indicators Report (2025 edition, report for 2024), Capital Regional District, 2025, page 22. Area: Victoria census metropolitan area. Updated: Yearly. Licence: Public document, not under an open licence. Quoted with attribution.
Show the numbers as a table
| Period | Lowest-rent quarter | Second quarter | Third quarter | Highest-rent quarter |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 1.1 | 1.7 | 5.8 | 5.0 |
| 2024 | 0.2 | 0.7 | 3.1 | 6.6 |
How it compares
CMHC, 2025, %. Comparisons are not goals.
Who decides
Municipal councils of Greater Victoria (13). Each council decides zoning and approves new housing in its own area. Local Government Act, s. 479
Show the 2 other bodies and the laws
| Body | What it decides | Law or bylaw |
|---|---|---|
| Municipal councils of Greater Victoria (13) | Each council decides zoning and approves new housing in its own area. | Local Government Act, s. 479 |
| Province of B.C. | Can set housing targets for a municipality. | Housing Supply Act, s. 2 |
| Government of Canada and Parliament | Finances and insures housing loans through Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. | National Housing Act, s. 3 |
Councils: last general local election October 17, 2026; next on October 19, 2030, the third Saturday of October set by the Local Government Act, s. 52. Province: last general election October 19, 2024; next set for October 21, 2028 unless called earlier (Constitution Act, s. 23). Canada: last general election April 28, 2025; next set for October 15, 2029 unless called earlier (Canada Elections Act, s. 56.1).
Each row says what a body decides and links to the law, order or bylaw that gives it that role. It does not say who caused a change: markets, households and other governments also move these numbers. Who decides what, for every measure · How we choose
What this number does not show
- CMHC sorts the private apartments in its October survey by rent and splits them into four equal groups (quartiles). The first quartile is the quarter with the lowest rents; the rent limits of each quartile change every year.
One more limit
- Purpose-built rental apartments in buildings of three units or more, all bedroom sizes together. Condos rented out, basement suites and houses are not included.
Not measured yet in housing: renovictions and tenant displacement. See all 18 gaps
In plain words
Among private apartments in CMHC’s October survey, sorted by rent, the share that were vacant in the quarter with the lowest rents.
How we decide “Better”
CMHC marks the change from October 2024 as a statistically significant increase.
A higher vacancy rate means more of the lowest-rent apartments are available to people looking for one. 1.1% in October 2025 against 0.2% in October 2024; CMHC marks the change as a statistically significant increase. Second quarter 1.7%, third 5.8%, highest-rent quarter 5.0%.
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. The rule.
All notes on this number
Why it matters. The overall vacancy rate can rise while the cheapest apartments stay full. This shows the part of the market where people with the lowest incomes look.
- CMHC sorts the private apartments in its October survey by rent and splits them into four equal groups (quartiles). The first quartile is the quarter with the lowest rents; the rent limits of each quartile change every year.
- Purpose-built rental apartments in buildings of three units or more, all bedroom sizes together. Condos rented out, basement suites and houses are not included.
- CMHC grades each estimate for quality and marks whether a change is statistically significant; both are shown here.
- CMHC first published this table in its 2025 Victoria workbook, which gives October 2024 and October 2025. Earlier years are charted in the CRD’s growth strategy report but not published as data, so they are not shown.
Which places
Area: Greater Victoria (CMA)
Statistics Canada’s Victoria metropolitan area: 13 municipalities plus nearby electoral-area and reserve lands.
Included
- Victoria
- Saanich
- Oak Bay
- Esquimalt
- View Royal
- Langford
- Colwood
- Highlands
- Metchosin
- Sooke
- Central Saanich
- North Saanich
- Sidney
- Juan de Fuca electoral area, part 1 (for example East Sooke, Jordan River and Shirley)
- First Nations reserves: Cole Bay 3, Union Bay 4, East Saanich 2, South Saanich 1, Becher Bay 1, Esquimalt, New Songhees 1A and T'Sou-ke
Not included
- Salt Spring Island
- Southern Gulf Islands (Galiano, Mayne, Pender and Saturna islands)
- Port Renfrew area (Juan de Fuca electoral area, part 2)
Official definition
How the agency describes it: Victoria census metropolitan area (Greater Victoria).
How we got it
This number is published by the agency as shown; it is not calculated here. The script reads it from the agency’s own file.
Licence and credits
Published under an open licence: anyone may reuse it with credit. About licences.
- Updated by agency
- Annually (CMHC Rental Market Report, December); latest release Not stated by the agency
- Retrieved
- Nov 12, 2026, 10:22 PM B.C. time
Adapted from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, Rental Market Survey data tables, Victoria, October 2025. This does not constitute an endorsement by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation of this product.
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