Buyer · Decision
Whoever tells you buying costs the same as rent is comparing a bare mortgage payment to an all-inclusive rent. The right question is not which costs less this month, but where the money goes.
In Montreal, a two-bedroom apartment rents on average between $1,500 and $2,000 a month depending on the area. A comparable condo of $300,000 to $400,000, bought with 5% down, costs rather $2,300 to $3,400 a month once the mortgage, municipal and school taxes and condo fees are added. On the monthly bill alone, renting almost always wins. But an honest comparison does not stop there: part of the mortgage payment repays capital that belongs to you, while rent follows increases (3.1% average increase suggested by the TAL for 2026) and builds nothing. The longer your horizon beyond five years, the more buying catches up and then overtakes renting; under two or three years, entry and exit costs eat the gain. The real answer depends on your horizon, not on the average.
On the raw monthly bill, the tenant wins almost every time. The trap is to stop there. Each mortgage payment has two parts: interest, which is an expense like rent, and capital, which is forced savings that belong to you. At the start of a loan the capital share is already significant, and it grows every year. Rent is 100% expense, forever. That is the structural difference: the owner partly pays themselves.
Add appreciation. Quebec real estate has appreciated over just about every ten-year period of its recent history, even through corrections, and the owner benefits on the full value of the property, not only on the down payment: that is leverage. With $20,000 down on a $400,000 property that gains 4% in a year, the gain is $16,000, or 80% of the initial stake. Leverage cuts both ways, but over a long horizon it has historically worked for the owner. To build that down payment, the FHSA and the HBP remain the most powerful tools for first-time buyers.
For 2026, the main component of the rent increase calculation published by the Tribunal administratif du logement is 3.1%, and that figure is indicative, not a cap: a higher increase can be justified by the building's expenses. Project a $1,800 rent indexed around 3% a year: in ten years it approaches $2,400; in twenty, $3,250. The owner's payment does not follow inflation (it moves only at renewals, in both directions), and the debt shrinks while the value rises. At retirement the gap becomes brutal: the tenant pays the highest rent of their life just as income falls; the owner has often finished paying.
Buying costs more than the mortgage: welcome tax at purchase, maintenance (rule of thumb: about 1% of the value per year), higher owner's insurance, rising condo fees, CMHC premium when the down payment is under 20%. Renting has its invisible costs too: cumulative increases, repeated moves, no control over repossession of the dwelling, and above all zero equity after 10, 20 or 30 years of payments. At entry, buying costs about 1.5% to 3% of the price (welcome tax, notary, inspection); at exit, 5% to 7% (commission and selling costs). The reflex that changes the calculation: compare the net cost of ownership (payment minus capital repaid, plus taxes, condo fees and maintenance) to the rent of an equivalent dwelling. In many Quebec scenarios, that net cost matches or beats rent within the first years.
Buying then reselling is expensive in transaction costs. Accumulated equity (capital repaid plus appreciation) must exceed those costs before buying beats renting, and that tipping point usually arrives around three to five years of ownership. Horizon under two or three years: rent. Horizon of five years and more: buying wins in the vast majority of scenarios. A possible job transfer, a new relationship, an expatriation project, a neighbourhood on trial: renting is then an excellent financial decision, not a failure. Conversely, a stable family that sees itself in the same sector for ten years and rents "while waiting for rates to drop" often pays dearly for that wait: prices and rents rise meanwhile, and no capital accumulates. You do not marry a rate, you marry a property: the rate gets renegotiated, the purchase price never does.
Rent without regret if your job or relationship may move you within 2 or 3 years, if you are testing a neighbourhood, if your income is unstable, or if your down payment grows faster in an FHSA than the market. Buy if your horizon exceeds 5 years, the down payment exists or can be built through the FHSA and HBP, your budget absorbs the total cost of ownership, and stability has value for you.
Month to month, renting. Over five years and more, buying wins in most scenarios once capital repayment and appreciation are counted against the rising rent.
The TAL's main calculation component for 2026 is 3.1%, an indicative figure rather than a cap.
Your equity must cover about 5% to 7% of the price in selling costs plus the 1.5% to 3% paid at purchase, which usually takes three to five years of ownership.
Also available in French: version française de ce guide.
Published September 1, 2026 by the Loaa & Manseur team, the number 1 team at RE/MAX Platine in 2024 and 2025, 6th RE/MAX team in Quebec, 15th in Canada and in the global top 50 according to the official RE/MAX ranking. Tell us about your project.
Équipe no 1 de RE/MAX Platine en 2024 et en 2025, 6e au Québec, 15e au Canada et dans le top 50 mondial au classement officiel RE/MAX. Réponse en moins de 24 heures, sept jours sur sept.