City benchmark · July 2026 · free calculator
Ottawa multi-family cap rate · Class A
4.50–5.00%
Class B / value-add: 4.95–5.80%
source: CBRE Q1 2026
What a 4.50–5.00% cap rate means for your financing
Put this cap rate next to your mortgage rate — that single comparison is the most useful thing on this page. If the cap rate is below your mortgage rate, you have negative leverage: the property earns less unlevered than the debt costs, so every borrowed dollar drags your return down and the property most likely runs cash-flow negative from day one. If it is above, borrowing amplifies your return instead.
Across much of Canada, negative leverage is simply the market condition — the national high-rise Class A multifamily cap rate was 4.51% in Q1 2026, among the lowest in North America. Investors accept the monthly deficit because they are buying appreciation and mortgage paydown rather than income. That is a legitimate thesis. It is only dangerous when it is unexamined.
Two Canadian specifics worth remembering: investment (non-owner-occupied) property requires a minimum 20% down payment with no CMHC insurance available, and the federal stress test still applies. If you are looking at 5+ units, the CMHC MLI Select program changes the maths considerably. Check your financed position with cash-on-cash return and whether a lender will fund it with DSCR.
Ottawa vs other Canadian markets
| Market | Cap rate |
|---|---|
| Ottawa (this page) | 4.50–5.00% |
| Vancouver | 3.50–4.00% |
| Toronto | 3.85–4.75% |
| London | 4.00–4.75% |
| Montreal | 4.25–4.50% |
| Quebec City | 4.25–5.00% |
| Kitchener-Waterloo | 4.50–4.75% |
| Calgary | 4.50–5.00% |
| Edmonton | 4.50–5.00% |
| Halifax | 4.50–5.25% |
| Winnipeg | 4.50–5.00% |
| Victoria | 4.50–5.00% |
| Saskatoon | 5.25–5.75% |
| Canada national — high rise Class A | 4.51% |
Source: CBRE Q1 2026 — CBRE multifamily, Class A, Q1 2026. Class B trades higher in most markets. CBRE reports multifamily yields rose across every segment in Q1 2026. Benchmarks are directional and move quarterly. See all markets in the cap rate by city guide.
Ottawa's purpose-built rental vacancy rate rose to 3.0% in October 2025 from 2.6% a year earlier, and the average rent climbed to C$1,727 across all bedroom types, per CMHC — figures that cover only the Ontario side of the Ottawa CMA, since CMHC publishes Ottawa and Gatineau separately. Ottawa sits under Ontario's 2026 rent increase guideline of 2.1% like the other Ontario cities in this set.
Ottawa's numbers cover the Ontario side of the CMA only
CMHC's Rental Market Survey data tables for Ottawa record the purpose-built private apartment vacancy rate rising from 2.6% in October 2024 to 3.0% in October 2025, with the average rent across all bedroom types up from C$1,673 to C$1,727 — a 3.2% year-over-year increase. CMHC treats Ottawa-Gatineau as a split CMA, publishing the Ontario portion (Ottawa) separately from the Quebec portion (Gatineau); the figures here describe Ottawa only, and are not comparable to a blended Ottawa-Gatineau figure without adjustment.
Ottawa's asking rent is published — but paid rent is suppressed
Statistics Canada's experimental asking-and-paid-rent series (table 46-10-0092-01) puts Ottawa's (Ontario-part) 2-bedroom apartment average asking rent at C$2,360 for the 2026 Q2 reference period. Unlike every other city in this batch, StatCan's paid-rent figure for Ottawa is suppressed in this vintage of the table — no comparable average paid rent is published, so no asking-vs-paid gap can be shown for Ottawa the way it can for the other six cities. Do not substitute the asking rent for a paid-rent estimate; StatCan itself withholds the figure rather than approximating it.
Ontario's guideline, and government employment's effect on rent stability
Ottawa falls under Ontario's 2026 rent increase guideline of 2.1% for most sitting tenancies, the same rule as Kitchener-Waterloo and London. Set against CMHC's measured 3.2% average rent increase, the gap between the guideline and market rent growth is narrower in Ottawa than in London (6.1% measured growth) or Halifax under its own provincial cap — consistent with Ottawa's federal-government-anchored employment base producing steadier, less volatile rent movement than markets more exposed to swings in population growth or resource-sector activity.
As with every Ontario CMA, any Ottawa unit first occupied for residential purposes after November 15, 2018 is exempt from the guideline entirely, so newer purpose-built towers in Ottawa's core see uncontrolled rent on both turnover and renewal.
Ontario land transfer tax and financing a larger Ottawa multi-unit building
Ottawa levies no municipal land transfer tax of its own — only Ontario's provincial LTT applies. Per the province's bracket schedule (0.5% to C$55,000; 1.0% from C$55,000 to C$250,000; 1.5% from C$250,000 to C$400,000; 2.0% above C$400,000), a C$700,000 Ottawa purchase works out to: C$55,000 × 0.5% = C$275, plus (C$250,000 − C$55,000) × 1.0% = C$1,950, plus (C$400,000 − C$250,000) × 1.5% = C$2,250, plus (C$700,000 − C$400,000) × 2.0% = C$6,000. Total Ontario LTT = C$10,475. A qualifying first-time buyer can apply the province's C$4,000 land transfer tax refund against that bill, bringing the net LTT to C$6,475.
For an Ottawa investor scaling into a 5+ unit building rather than a single condo, CMHC's MLI Select programme changes the financing math: at a minimum 50 points, maximum LTV is 85% with a maximum 40-year amortization; at 70 points, maximum LTV rises to 95% with up to 45 years; at 100 points, maximum LTV stays up to 95% with amortization extending to 50 years, and all three tiers require a minimum 1.10 debt coverage ratio. Points are earned across three categories — Affordability (up to 100 points for existing buildings, up to 50 for new construction), Energy Efficiency/GHG Reductions (up to 100 points), and Accessibility (up to 40 points) — which rewards exactly the kind of below-market-rent, efficiency-retrofit building that Ottawa's steady, government-anchored rental demand makes a realistic hold.
Methodology
Vacancy and rent figures are CMHC's October 2025 Rental Market Survey data tables for the Ottawa CMA (Ontario side only), purpose-built private apartment universe, all bedroom types combined. The StatCan asking-rent figure is Statistics Canada's experimental table 46-10-0092-01 for 2-bedroom apartments, reference period 2026 Q2; that table's paid-rent value for Ottawa is suppressed in the source and is not estimated here. Land transfer tax and MLI Select figures apply Ontario's and CMHC's own published schedules directly; no specific MLI Select premium percentage is cited, since CMHC's own MLI Select page does not itself state those figures (see notes).
Sources
- CMHC — Rental Market Survey Data Tables, Ottawa, 2025 — accessed 2026-09-21
- Statistics Canada — Table 46-10-0092-01, asking and paid rent — accessed 2026-09-21
- Government of Ontario — Rent increase guideline — accessed 2026-09-21
- Government of Ontario — Calculating land transfer tax — accessed 2026-09-21
- Government of Ontario — Land transfer tax refunds for first-time homebuyers — accessed 2026-09-21
- CMHC — MLI Select — accessed 2026-09-21
Frequently asked questions
What is the average cap rate in Ottawa?
Ottawa multifamily Class A cap rates run approximately 4.50–5.00% (CBRE Q1 2026, CBRE multifamily, Class A, Q1 2026). Class B product in the same market trades at roughly 4.95–5.80%. Government employment underpins unusually stable rental demand, with a wide Class B spread. For context, the Canadian national high-rise Class A multifamily cap rate was 4.51% in Q1 2026. Cap rate is net operating income divided by purchase price, and it deliberately excludes your mortgage — so it describes the property rather than your financed position.
Is Ottawa a good market for rental investment?
At 4.50–5.00%, the honest question is what you want the property to do. If the cap rate sits below your mortgage rate you have negative leverage — the property earns less unlevered than the debt costs, so borrowing reduces your return and the property likely runs cash-flow negative. That can still be a sound long-term position if you are buying appreciation and mortgage paydown, but it should be a deliberate decision rather than a surprise at closing.
Why are cap rates in Ottawa at this level?
Canadian cap rates broadly reflect prices rising faster than rents over many years — yield is income over price, so when the denominator outruns the numerator the ratio compresses. The spread across Canada is narrow: Vancouver sits lowest at 3.50–4.00% Class A, most markets cluster around 4.25–5.00%, and Saskatoon tops the survey at 5.25–5.75%. CBRE also reports that multifamily yields rose across every segment in Q1 2026, led by Kitchener-Waterloo, Montreal and Vancouver.
What's the difference between Class A and Class B cap rates in Ottawa?
Class A is newer, well-located, professionally managed product; Class B is older stock with room for improvement. Class B generally trades at a higher cap rate as compensation for the work and risk — about 4.95–5.80% in Ottawa, against 4.50–5.00% for Class A. The gap varies a lot by market: in Vancouver, CBRE records Class B at the same range as Class A, while Ottawa's Class B spread is much wider. If you are comparing your own deal against a published benchmark, make sure you are comparing like with like.
Does this cap rate include my mortgage?
No — and that is intentional. Cap rate is net operating income divided by price, describing the property as if you paid all cash. That is what makes it comparable across buyers with different loans. To see what your specific financed position earns, use cash-on-cash return; to check whether a lender will fund it, use DSCR.