Montreal vs Ottawa: which is better for Airbnb investment? (2026)

Bottom line

Montreal and Ottawa score similarly on the metrics that matter most for short-term rental returns. The right pick depends on whether you optimise for yield (lower regulation risk, higher RevPAR) or capital growth.

Head-to-head metrics

	Montreal	Ottawa
Median occupancy	34%	34.5%
Median daily rate	£116	£78
Median RevPAR	£34	£29
Active listings	7,186	1,796
YoY occupancy	-5.5 pts	+0 pts
YoY daily rate	+45.9%	+22.5%
Regulation risk	—	—
Annual night cap	None	None
License required	No	No

Full analysis: Montreal vs Ottawa

There is no clean winner between Montreal and Ottawa. Montreal posts 34% occupancy and £34 RevPAR; Ottawa posts 34.5% occupancy and £29 RevPAR. Weighted together with regulation risk the two finish inside the margin we are willing to call, which is the honest answer rather than an evasive one — a scoring gap this small would flip on the next data refresh. When markets are this close the decision stops being about the market and starts being about the deal: what you pay, what it costs to run, and how quickly you could exit.

On the mechanics of the yield the two are hard to separate. Montreal runs 34% occupancy at £116 a night; Ottawa runs 34.5% at £78. That leaves RevPAR almost level too — £34 against £29 — so operating quality, not market selection, is what will decide your return between these two.

A tie does not mean the two are interchangeable — it means each holds something the other does not. Nightly rates are also climbing faster in Montreal, +45.9% over the last year against +22.5% in Ottawa. The twelve-month direction favours Ottawa too: occupancy there moved +0 points while Montreal moved −5.5 points. Pick the one whose advantage matches how you intend to operate, because the composite score will not do that job for you.

Neither Montreal nor Ottawa currently has a verified short-term rental regulation record in our register, so the comparison above is a yield comparison only. Regulation is the single largest source of downside in this asset class — an unverified market is an unpriced risk, not an absent one.

The two calendars also behave differently. Montreal peaks in September at 62.4% and bottoms in February at 28.9%; Ottawa runs from 53% in September down to 27.4% in February. Ottawa is the steadier of the two at 25.6 points peak-to-trough against 33.5 — easier to underwrite against a mortgage — while Montreal concentrates its return into a shorter window and rewards operators who price the peak aggressively instead of holding a flat rate all year.

Who each suits, then. Montreal suits buyers who want a conventional, lightly regulated entry and who can hold rate through the shoulder season rather than discounting to fill the calendar. It is the contrarian side: buying it means buying a market that has cooled. Ottawa answers to the same regulatory profile, so the split between them is operational rather than legal: it is the market for an owner whose economics survive high turnover — more bookings, more cleans, more guest contact per pound of revenue. Every figure above comes from the same Inside Airbnb snapshot pipeline on both sides, dated 2026-09, filtered to listings with at least one booking in the last twelve months. Occupancy medians are drawn from 7,186 active Montreal listings and 1,796 in Ottawa.

Frequently asked questions

Is Montreal or Ottawa better for Airbnb investment?

Neither pulls clearly ahead. Montreal runs 34% occupancy and £116 a night; Ottawa runs 34.5% occupancy and £78 a night. Once occupancy, revenue per available night and regulation risk are weighted together the two finish within a couple of points of each other, so the decision turns on purchase price, how far you are willing to travel, and which rulebook you would rather work under.

Which has higher occupancy, Montreal or Ottawa?

Effectively neither — they are level. Montreal sits at 34% and Ottawa at 34.5%, a 0.5-point difference that is inside the noise of a median drawn from a listings snapshot. Over the last twelve months Montreal shed 5.5 points and Ottawa was flat, so the gap is widening.

Which has higher nightly rates, Montreal or Ottawa?

Montreal, at £116 a night against £78 in Ottawa — roughly 48.4% more. Revenue per available night agrees rather than contradicts: £34 in Montreal against £29, so the rate premium survives contact with the occupancy figures.

Which has stronger year-over-year growth, Montreal or Ottawa?

Ottawa, on occupancy: +0 points over the last twelve months against −5.5 points in Montreal. Nightly rates rose 45.9% in Montreal and rose 22.5% in Ottawa over the same window. One year of movement is a direction, not a trend — weigh it against the regulation picture before treating it as momentum.

Which is the bigger Airbnb market, Montreal or Ottawa?

Montreal, with 7,186 active listings against 1,796 in Ottawa. Size cuts both ways: a deep market gives you comparables, contractors and an exit, while a thinner one means fewer near-identical rivals competing for the same search results.

How much can you earn from an Airbnb in Montreal vs Ottawa?

Montreal earns more: roughly £12,277 a year for a median listing against £10,656 in Ottawa. Those are gross booking revenues before cleaning, management, platform fees, furnishing amortisation and tax — budget for a meaningful share of them, and note that a median listing is a median operator, not a good one.

Go deeper on each city

Market guide

Airbnb in Montreal →

Occupancy, ADR, neighborhoods, regulation

Market guide

Airbnb in Ottawa →

Occupancy, ADR, neighborhoods, regulation

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