Calgary Rental Market: Calgary Rent Crisis: Family Units Surge to $2,725 as Market Splits

CALGARY, AB — Calgary landlords just hit a new milestone: $2,725 a month for a 4+ bedroom unit. That's not a typo. That's the going rate for a family trying to find space in a city where the rental market has split clean down the middle—singles are catching a break, but families are getting squeezed.

The numbers tell the story. Studios are holding at $1,315. One-bedrooms sit at $1,470. Two-bedrooms run $1,877. Then the jump: three-bedrooms are $2,229, and anything bigger commands that $2,725 price tag. The entry-level stuff—studios and one-bedrooms—is stabilizing, even softening in spots. But the family-sized units? They're climbing like landlords found a growth hormone.

The Vacancy Shift

Here's the twist: Calgary's rental vacancy rate has rebounded to a more balanced 5-6% in early 2026, up from the claustrophobic 1-2% lows that had tenants bidding against each other like it was an eBay auction. The influx of new purpose-built rentals—plus those downtown office-to-residential conversions the city's been banking on—finally hit the market. Add in a projected slowdown in international migration, and suddenly there's breathing room. For some.

Alberta's still holding the line on its no-rent-control policy. The provincial government's bet? Supply-side solutions. Build more units, prices stabilize. That's the theory. The practice depends on which bedroom count you're shopping for.

The Squeeze: Singles vs. Families

If you're a single person or a couple hunting for a one-bedroom, you've got options. Landlords are feeling the vacancy creep, and that means room to negotiate. Maybe you knock $50 off the monthly rate. Maybe you get the parking spot thrown in. It's not a tenant's paradise, but it's closer than it's been in years.

But if you're a family scanning the listings for a three-bedroom or bigger? You're fighting for scraps. Demand is still outrunning supply in the upmarket tiers, and landlords know it. They're holding the leverage, and they're using it. The price appreciation on those larger units isn't slowing down—it's accelerating.

The Legal Wild Card

Here's the wrinkle nobody's talking about yet: a new national law now lets tenants sue landlords for damages exceeding $25,000. It's untested. It's vague. And it's got property owners quietly recalculating their operational costs. Legal fees. Insurance premiums. The cost of doing business just got cloudier, and that cloud tends to roll downhill to the rent check.

The Family Trap

The math is simple and brutal. Singles and couples are finding breathing room. Families are running out of it. No rent control means no ceiling on those annual hikes, and the larger the unit, the steeper the climb. Families are left choosing between affordability and adequate space—a choice that shouldn't exist in a city that's supposed to be building its way out of this crisis.

The next rent checks are due March 1. The vacancy rate might be stabilizing the bottom tier, but the top tier is still a seller's market. And for families, that squeeze isn't letting up anytime soon.