At the same time, some of the highest rents were reported in Hinton, located just east of the Jasper National Park gates, where bachelor and one-bedroom units reached as high as $1,875 per month.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Two-bedroom units in Drayton Valley, about 150 kilometres southwest of Edmonton, climbed to $2,400, while larger units in the northern communities of Peace River and Grande Cache reached up to $3,000.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The annual survey, which has been conducted since the 1970s, looks specifically at multi-family dwellings in communities with between 1,000 and 10,000 residents and at least 30 rental units.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It focuses on non-subsidized rental buildings with four or more units, meaning other types of data, such as basement suite accommodation, is not captured. The provincial government describes it as the only official and unbiased rental housing cost and vacancy information source for rural Alberta.<\/p>\n
The survey was not conducted in 2019 or 2020.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Low vacancy rates in many communities\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rocky Mountain House, where the vacancy rate fell from four to two per cent, is one of 21 communities where the survey showed a drop in units sitting empty.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Swan Hills, about 200 kilometres northwest of Edmonton, saw one of the sharpest drops, with the vacancy rate falling from 39.3 per cent in 2024 to 8.7 per cent in 2025. That was followed by Bruderheim, a town in the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, where the vacancy rate dropped from 36.1 to 19.1 per cent.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a trend that\u2019s really important. It\u2019s not like a one-off change,\u201d said Damian Collins, a University of Alberta human geography professor specializing in housing.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Collins said the drop to three per cent signals tightening supply and growing pressure on renters.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re not seeing a lot of new, purpose-built rental housing coming onto the market to meet demand in those communities,\u201d he said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1771769408_129_default.jpg\")
An undated file photo of a three-storey apartment building in Alberta. (Elissa Carpenter\/CBC)<\/p>\n
In Canada, he added three per cent is generally considered a healthy vacancy rate. Anything below that raises concerns about housing shortages.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a clear downward trend,\u201d Collins said. \u201cThat indicates increasing pressure on renters who are looking for affordable housing.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
No longer just a big city problem\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Collins said rural vacancy rates are now lower than in some of Alberta\u2019s big cities. He pointed to similar data in the 2025 rental market report <\/a>\u00a0from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), which said the vacancy rate was 3.8 per cent in Edmonton and five per cent in Calgary for purpose-built rentals.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n