The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation tracks rental market data separately from home prices, and the two numbers answer different questions. A mortgage payment builds equity in a home you own outright at the end of the term, and a rent payment does not, even when the two monthly amounts happen to be close.
The honest comparison also depends on your down payment size and the mortgage rate you actually qualify for, both of which vary by buyer, so a headline comparison rarely applies to your specific numbers.
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