Despite approval for hundreds of units, P.E.I. vacancy rate still under 1%, says new report [Video]

It’s getting harder to find an apartment on Prince Edward Island, according to new data released by the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation this week. 

The vacancy rate for apartments on P.E.I. dipped from 1.1 per cent in 2023 to 0.8 per cent in 2024 — the lowest rate in the country. 

This marks the third year in a row that the province’s vacancy rate has hovered around 1 per cent. 

P.E.I. has seen the largest population increase rate per capita in Canada since the start of the pandemic, and that certainly affects the vacancy rate, said Lukas Jasmin-Tucci, an economist with CMHC. 

“We had a strong demand — stronger than what we saw in other provinces — and this, in part, explains why the vacancy rate is low,” he said.  

As the vacancy rate went down, the average cost of rent went up. The average monthly rent for a …