Reading the Numbers: What the Latest Multifamily Data Means for Saskatchewan

By Peter Altobelli, President, Yardi Canada Ltd.

After two years of steady softening, Canada’s multifamily market found some footing in the second quarter of 2026. The national vacancy rate fell 40 basis points to 4.7%, breaking a run of nine straight quarters of increases. Rent growth is still slowing but it hasn’t turned negative overall. Average in-place rent nationally rose to $1,774, up 2.2% year over year, which is the smallest annual gain since late 2021.

The softness shows up most clearly in new leases. Nationally, lease-over-lease rates on units that turned over were -0.6% in the quarter, the second straight quarter in negative territory, though slightly better than the -1.0% seen the quarter before. In other words, the rent lift landlords have relied on at turnover has largely disappeared in many markets, and renewals are now carrying most of the growth. The backdrop is a mixed economy: GDP swung back to positive in April after two negative quarters, the national unemployment rate eased to 6.5% in June, and hiring among 15 to 24 year olds picked up, which tends to feed new rental household formation.

Where Saskatchewan stands apart

Saskatchewan does not move in lockstep with the national story, and that is worth paying attention to. On new leases, the province held up better than the national average this quarter, sitting near the top of the provincial group rather than dragging behind markets like British Columbia and Ontario, where oversupply in the big downtown cores has pushed new lease rates sharply negative.

Saskatoon, the province’s benchmark market in the report, tells a more nuanced story. In-place rents rose 1.4% year over year, positive but below the 2.2% national pace. New lease rates came in at -1.3%, reflecting the same turnover softness showing up across most of the country. Vacancy sat at 5.2%, a touch above the 4.7% national figure. The number that really sets Saskatoon apart is turnover: at 40.4%, it was the highest of any major market in the country, well above the 26.2% national rate. Residents in Saskatoon also stayed the shortest, an average of 24 months versus 38 nationally.

That combination, moderate rents with very high tenant movement, defines the operational reality here. A market where four in ten units turn over every year is a market where leasing performance and how quickly you backfill a vacancy matter enormously to the bottom line.

There is a bright spot in how those prospects are found. Saskatoon converted 10.8% of digital prospects into residents, comfortably above the 8.4% national conversion rate, and drew 22 digital prospects per 100 units each month. Housing providers here are getting real traction from online channels, which matters more in a high-turnover market than almost anywhere else.

The operational reality

High turnover is not just a leasing metric, it is a cost driver. Every move-out means a unit to clean, repair, market and re-lease, and every one of those steps carries expense and downtime. In a market turning over at 40%, small improvements in how smoothly a resident moves in or out compound quickly across a portfolio.

This is where digital communication and self-service tools earn their keep. Online applications, digital lease signing, self-guided or scheduled tours, and streamlined move-in and move-out workflows shorten the gap between one lease ending and the next beginning. Given that Saskatoon renters are already responding to digital channels at an above-average rate, leaning further into those tools is a natural fit rather than a leap.

The takeaway holds regardless: meeting renters where they already are, online, is now table stakes for keeping units filled.

The cost equation: operating metrics to watch

Rent is only one side of the ledger. The report tracks three expense measures per unit that every housing provider should be watching as they plan:

Repairs and maintenance per unit captures the recurring cost of keeping units and common areas functional, from appliance and electrical repairs to unit turnover, landscaping and cleaning. In a high-turnover market, this line is especially sensitive to how often units change hands.

Controllable expense per unit covers the operating costs a manager can influence, including administration, payroll, repairs and maintenance, utilities, marketing and management fees.

Total expense per unit adds the items largely outside a manager’s control, such as property taxes and insurance, on top of controllable costs. Nationally this ran $8,165 per unit in the quarter, with Alberta at $8,127 and Ontario highest at $8,978. Tracking your own numbers against these benchmarks is a quick way to spot where your portfolio is running hot.

What this means for Saskatchewan housing providers

The data points to a clear planning priority: manage for turnover. With residency the shortest and turnover the highest of any major market, the operators who do best in Saskatchewan will be the ones who treat every vacancy as a process to optimize rather than an event to react to.

A few report KPIs are worth building into your 2026 planning. Watch turnover percentage and average length of stay together as your retention scorecard, since improving even one of them takes real cost out of the system. Track digital prospect conversion, because Saskatoon’s above-average numbers show the demand is there to capture. And benchmark your repairs, controllable and total expense per unit against the provincial and national figures to see where you have room to tighten. Used together, these numbers move you from reacting quarter to quarter toward planning with intent.

For the full national and market-by-market data behind these trends, the latest Yardi Canadian National Multifamily Report is available here.