One region is quietly leading the country while major cities slide
Regina led all Canadian markets with a 13% gain in detached home prices per square foot in the first half of 2026, even as Vancouver condos fell nearly 15% and Toronto condos declined close to 8%, according to CENTURY 21 Canada's ninth annual Price per Square Foot (PPSF) survey.
The survey tracked sales across 50 communities between January 1 and June 30, comparing results with the same period in 2025.
Four communities were added this year, including Mississauga in Ontario and Surrey, Abbotsford, and Langley in British Columbia.
Todd Shyiak, executive vice-president of CENTURY 21 Canada, said the national picture conceals sharp local divergence.
"Canada's real estate pricing story is a diverse one and we are seeing significant variation in prices, and price trends, down to the individual neighbourhood," he said.
The results align with a broader pattern of buyers migrating from expensive city cores toward more affordable Prairie and secondary markets that have quietly gained momentum throughout 2026
Prairies and Alberta find stable ground
Brandon, Winnipeg, and Saskatoon all followed Regina closely in detached home gains, with buyers in those markets continuing to favour single-family properties over condos.
Alberta reversed its 2025 position as the sole province to rise across the board, posting modest overall declines, though Calgary and Edmonton held steady and smaller centres including Red Deer and St. Albert recorded modest increases.
Geneva Tetrault, owner of CENTURY 21 Masters in Edmonton, Alberta, described the shift as a long-overdue normalization.
"We've really settled into a balanced market. There are transactions happening, the agents are busy selling, but there's less of the urgency and panic around every transaction that we've seen in the past," she said.
Ontario and B.C. record the steepest pullbacks
In British Columbia, Vancouver condo and detached prices fell by close to 15%, while Richmond and North Vancouver declined roughly 10%, returning many communities near pre-pandemic price levels. Kelowna and Victoria held essentially flat.
Rhiannon Foster, an agent with CENTURY 21 In-Town Realty in Vancouver, said the correction has restored a level of negotiating leverage buyers have rarely held.
"They have choice, they have time to make decisions, they have negotiating power that hasn't been possible in a very long time," she said.
Ontario recorded the most challenging conditions of any province. Thin listings pushed several markets to months without a single recorded sale, with brokers across the province navigating one of the most inventory-constrained selling environments in recent memory
Shyiak said the firm's Ontario agents are working through "the tightest market most of their agents have seen in their careers."
Nelson Goulart, owner of CENTURY 21 Signature Service in Mississauga, Ontario, tied the sustained correction to geopolitical uncertainty and tariffs levied against Canada, but offered a measured outlook.
"I believe we're at the bottom of this market, so even though we've been bruised by the start of this year there's some optimism for the fall markets," he said.
Atlantic Canada posted modest declines overall, with small price increases in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, and Halifax, Nova Scotia.
On the Island of Montreal, condos recorded their first dip since the survey began, minor in scale, while detached homes edged up nearly 6%.
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