Investing in Quebec City rentals: the numbers
Quebec City is one of the lowest-vacancy, lowest-price markets in the country. Rents are modest but so are entry prices, and the market is steady rather than volatile. The Quebec rules are their own thing. Here are the numbers.
Quebec City at a glance
| Average 2-bedroom rent | $1,050/mo (CMHC Rental Market Report, October 2025) |
|---|---|
| Average 1-bedroom rent | $900/mo (CMHC Rental Market Report, October 2025) |
| Rent growth, year over year | 6.0% (CMHC Rental Market Report, October 2025) |
| Rental vacancy rate | 1.3% (CMHC Rental Market Survey, October 2024) |
| City residential mill rate | 10.12 per $1,000 of assessed value, 2024 (municipal tax bylaws, 2024) |
| Rent control | Guideline rates set by the housing tribunal; tenants can contest |
Figures from CMHC, CBRE and Colliers Canada surveys and municipal tax bylaws. Cited with each row above. Rents are existing-tenant averages; new leases on turnover usually run higher.
A Quebec City fourplex, run in full
Take a small four-unit building in Quebec City. Using the CMHC Rental Market Report, October 2025 average two-bedroom rent of $1,050 a month across the four units, gross rent comes to about $4,200 a month, or $50,400 a year. At a purchase price near $554,000, the math looks like this.
Property tax at Quebec City's residential mill rate of 10.12 per $1,000 runs about $5,606 a year. Add roughly $14,100 for insurance, maintenance, management, and a vacancy reserve, and total operating expenses land near $19,706. That leaves a net operating income around $30,694 a year. That works out to an implied cap rate near 5.5% on this price.
Now add the mortgage. With 20% down on a 30-year amortisation at current rates, the debt service is the line that decides whether this deal cash-flows. If it qualifies for CMHC MLI Select, a 1.10 DSCR threshold and a 40-year amortisation path change the math in your favour. That is the kind of difference a US-built tool misses, because it does not carry the CMHC paths at all. The numbers only hold if the rents, the unit count, and the mill rate are real, not what the listing claims.
What is specific to Quebec City
- Vacancy here is very tight, which supports rents despite the modest dollar amounts.
- Quebec's housing tribunal and lease-transfer rules make raising an in-place rent slower than in much of Canada. Underwrite the rent you can actually charge.
- Welcome tax, the local land transfer duty, applies on purchase. Count it in closing costs.
Run a real Quebec City listing through BrickROI.
Paste the realtor.ca URL and the Canadian property data fills in the price, taxes, and rent comps. You get cap rate, DSCR, cash-on-cash, the CMHC and MLI Select paths, and a lender-ready PDF in two minutes.
Try a dealWant to run the numbers yourself first? Start the cash-on-cash calculator with this example's figures.
Quebec City investor questions
Is Quebec City a good place to invest in rentals?
It depends on the specific deal. Quebec City has an average two-bedroom rent of $1,050 a month and a rental vacancy rate of 1.3% per the CMHC Rental Market Survey, October 2024. Run the actual numbers on the building before you decide.
What is the average rent in Quebec City?
Per the CMHC Rental Market Report, October 2025, the average two-bedroom rent in Quebec City is $1,050 a month and the average one-bedroom is $900. Rents grew about 6.0% year over year. New leases on turnover typically run higher than these existing-tenant averages.
Does rent control apply in Quebec City?
Quebec does not set a hard rent-increase cap, but the Tribunal administratif du logement publishes annual guideline rates and a tenant can contest an increase. Raising an in-place rent is harder here than the headline suggests.