Winnipeg's vacancy rate rose to 2.8% and average rent to C$1,392, per CMHC's October 2025 survey — comfortably under Manitoba's C$1,670 threshold where the 2026 rent guideline stops applying. Manitoba also charges no land transfer tax on the first C$30,000 of a purchase — a modest but real difference from every other province on this page.
Winnipeg's rental market and the C$1,670 rent-guideline cutoff
The CMHC October 2025 Rental Market Survey puts Winnipeg CMA's purpose-built private-apartment vacancy rate at 2.8% as of October 2025 (up from 1.7% a year earlier), with average rent across all bedroom types at C$1,392 (up from C$1,328). For 2-bedroom units specifically, Statistics Canada's experimental rent table recorded an average asking rent of C$1,660 against an average paid rent of C$1,550 as of April 2026 — a modest C$110 gap, the narrowest of any city in this series.
Manitoba's 2026 rent increase guideline is 1.8%, effective January 1, 2026, calculated from Manitoba's own CPI — but it excludes units already renting at C$1,670 a month or more, along with social housing, government-owned units, and buildings first occupied after March 2005. Every rent figure cited above for Winnipeg sits below that C$1,670 line, which means a unit renting at those averages is guideline-capped rather than free to reprice at will — a meaningfully different constraint than an exempt post-2018 Toronto tower or an Alberta market with no cap at all.
Manitoba land transfer tax: the only province on this page with a 0% band
| Bracket | Rate |
|---|---|
| Up to C$30,000 | 0% |
| C$30,000 – C$90,000 | 0.5% |
| C$90,000 – C$150,000 | 1.0% |
| C$150,000 – C$200,000 | 1.5% |
| Above C$200,000 | 2.0% |
Government of Manitoba, Finance, Land Transfer Tax page.
Manitoba's land transfer tax is the only schedule in this series with a true 0% bottom bracket, and the province names no first-time home buyer rebate or exemption program at all — the same five brackets apply to every buyer regardless of purchase history.
Winnipeg property tax: mill rate, portioned assessment, and school division
Winnipeg does not tax the full market value directly. The city's 2026 combined mill rates apply to a portioned assessed value equal to 45% of a residential property's market value, then multiply that by the applicable mill rate (dollars per C$1,000) — the municipal mill rate alone is 13.372, and the fully combined rate (municipal plus education and school division) ranges from 25.223 in the Pembina Trails school division up to 29.530 in Seven Oaks, with Winnipeg School Division itself at 29.366.
Methodology
Vacancy and average-rent figures are CMHC's October 2025 Rental Market Survey (purpose-built private apartments, Winnipeg CMA total, all bedroom types). Asking-versus-paid rent is Statistics Canada's experimental table 46-10-0092-01 for 2-bedroom apartments, April 2026. Property tax uses the City of Winnipeg's 2026 combined mill rate schedule and its stated 45% residential portioning rule. The C$320,000 purchase price used across the land transfer tax and property tax worked examples is illustrative, chosen to sit inside every bracket shown.
Sources
- CMHC — Rental Market Survey Data Tables, Winnipeg 2025 — accessed 2026-09-21
- Statistics Canada — Table 46-10-0092-01, asking and paid rent — accessed 2026-09-21
- Government of Manitoba — Rent increase guideline set for 2026 — accessed 2026-09-21
- Government of Manitoba — Land Transfer Tax — accessed 2026-09-21
- City of Winnipeg — 2026 Combined Mill Rates — accessed 2026-09-21