Rents fell across most of Canada this year. Ontario was an exception.
SingleKey’s Q2 2026 Rent Cheque report analyzed rental applications nationwide from April through June. Ontario’s average rent rose slightly, to $2,227, while the national average slipped 2.1%. That fits the pattern we wrote about in why Ontario rents keep rising despite more housing supply. Ontario renter household incomes also grew almost 8%, so on paper renters here are in better shape than a year ago.
The risk data underneath tells a different story.
Credit scores up, collections up too
Ontario applicants averaged a 708 credit score, the highest of any region in the country. Yet the share of Ontario applicants with accounts in collections rose 18% from last year, to about one in eight.
Collections are often old, unresolved debts such as an unpaid phone bill, a utility balance or a forgotten account. They don’t always drag a credit score down much, but they show whether someone deals with what they owe. Strong scores and rising collections at the same time mean a credit score alone is no longer enough to judge an applicant.
That matters because the cost of getting it wrong keeps climbing. Earlier this year we broke down what the 2026 LTB unpaid rent data reveals for Ontario landlords.
Eastern Ontario isn’t Toronto
Toronto was one of the lowest-risk rental markets in the report, with 5% collections and 1% bankruptcies. Kingston, the closest market tracked to the Quinte region, had collections of 15% and a bankruptcy rate of 5.4%. Kingston’s bankruptcy rate is more than five times Toronto’s.
Screening standards built around big-city averages don’t fit smaller Ontario markets. Risk is local, and it can vary a lot between cities an hour apart. Our LTB unpaid rent hotspots analysis for Central Ontario found the same thing at the postal code level. For current asking rents from Oshawa to Kingston, see our weekly Central Ontario Rental Market Report.
Single renters are stretched thin
Households look fine, spending about 29% of income on rent. Single renters in Ontario are different. They put almost 43% of their income toward rent, and close to 57% once debt payments are added.
That’s why a lot of strong applications now include roommates, partners or co-signers. Those arrangements can work well, as long as every adult is screened and on the lease. Our guide to the OREA Form 410 rental application covers what to collect from each applicant.
Don’t rule out the self-employed
Self-employed renters averaged a 708 credit score, higher than full-time employees at 701. The real gap in the data is between renters with steady income of any kind and those without it. A self-employed applicant with verifiable, consistent income is often a better bet than the label suggests.
How we screen
At Blue Anchor, every applicant is assessed on:
- Verified current income, with rent-to-income measured for the actual household
- Credit score and collections history, read together
- Every adult on the lease screened, including roommates and co-signers
- Income stability rather than job title
You can read the full breakdown in how Blue Anchor screens tenants, or see our tenant screening service.
In a market where rents are flat and debt is quietly climbing, one bad placement costs far more than a few extra days of vacancy. We explain why in the true cost of vacancy.
If you own rentals in Belleville, Trenton, Cobourg, Oshawa or Picton, contact us and we’ll show you how we protect your income.
Source: SingleKey, The Rent Cheque: Q2 2026 Rental Intelligence Report.
