The cost to rent in Canada just got even more expensive.

Data from Rentals.ca and research firm Urbanation released this week shows July’s average asking rent hit $2,078, just shy of nine per cent above the same month last year.

One-bedroom apartments alone saw a 13 per cent annual increase and a monthly rise of 2.5 per cent, bringing July’s figure to $1,850.

Compared to July 2021, the average asking rent increased by 21 per cent, adding $354 per month on average.

Douglas Kwan from the Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario says the numbers are just one of the many signs of the housing crisis that he’s seen.

He’s says a family of Syrian refugees in Waterloo who rented a home for $2,000 a month were told only a year later that their landlord wanted $4,000 a month.