The Alberta Official Statistic describes rental vacancy rates for private structures with 3 or more apartments in Alberta and its major urban centres. Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) conducts the Rental Market Survey (RMS) annually in April and October to estimate relative strengths in the rental market. Survey results reflect market conditions during the first two weeks of April and October.
Use Cases
- Analyze year-over-year changes in rental vacancy rates based on the annual survey analysis mentioned in the description.
- Compare vacancy trends across major Alberta urban centres (Calgary, Edmonton, etc.) based on the geographic coverage.
- Model rental market strength indicators based on the survey's collection of market rent, available, and vacant unit data.
- Assess the supply of privately initiated apartment structures based on the survey's target population.
Strengths
- Data is collected by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), a national housing authority.
- Survey targets urban areas with populations of 10,000 and more, covering major Alberta centres.
- Survey methodology combines telephone interviews, site visits, and information from owners/managers.
Limitations
- Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
- Data only includes privately initiated structures with at least three rental units, excluding smaller properties.
- Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
Provenance
- Source
- Government of Alberta | Gouvernement de l'Alberta
- Collection Method
- CMHC Rental Market Survey conducted via telephone interviews and site visits.
- Freshness
- Last updated 2026-04-17 14:46:51.865944; freshness should be verified.
- Geography
- Alberta and its major urban centres (Calgary CMA, Edmonton CMA, Red Deer CA, Lethbridge CA, Medicine Hat CA, Wood Buffalo CA and Grande Prairie CA).