Side-by-side comparison

New Brunswick vs Toronto: which is better for Airbnb investment?

We compare the Canada short-term rental markets across occupancy, daily rate, RevPAR, year-over-year trend, and regulation.

Bottom line

Toronto edges ahead of New Brunswick on higher occupancy (56% vs 42%), stronger RevPAR (£25 vs £18).

Head-to-head metrics

 New BrunswickToronto
Median occupancy42%56%
Median daily rate£87£75
Median RevPAR£18£25
Active listings3,39011,370
YoY occupancy+22.3 pts+23.1 pts
YoY daily rate+0%-3.7%
Regulation risk
Annual night capNoneNone
License requiredNoNo

Full analysis: New Brunswick vs Toronto

On the money side of this comparison — what a listing actually earns against the nights it has available — Toronto finishes decisively ahead of New Brunswick. Revenue per available night — rate and occupancy combined, the figure that actually reaches an owner — is 39.2% higher in Toronto: £25 against £18. Toronto sells 14 more points of its calendar — 56% median occupancy against 42% in New Brunswick. That is not a rounding difference, and it compounds over a hold period.

The two markets reach their revenue by different routes, which is what makes this pairing worth reading rather than just tabulating. New Brunswick is the rate market: £87 a night against £75, some 15.4% more, but it converts fewer of those nights at 42% occupancy. Toronto is the volume market, filling 56% of its calendar at a lower headline price. Revenue per available night settles it: £25 in Toronto against £18. Rate is what you advertise; RevPAR is what you bank.

That verdict needs a caveat, because New Brunswick is not simply the weaker market of the two. Nightly rates favour New Brunswick: £87 against £75 in Toronto, a 15.4% premium. New Brunswick's calendar is the flatter of the two — 11.9 points between its best and worst month against 23.5 in Toronto — which makes debt service easier to underwrite. If your model leans on nightly rate rather than volume, the ordering above can reasonably flip.

Neither New Brunswick nor Toronto 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. New Brunswick peaks in July at 51.1% and bottoms in June at 39.2%; Toronto runs from 62.7% in September down to 39.2% in January. New Brunswick is the steadier of the two at 11.9 points peak-to-trough against 23.5 — easier to underwrite against a mortgage — while Toronto 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. New Brunswick 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. Toronto 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. It is also the momentum side of this pair. Every figure above comes from the same Inside Airbnb snapshot pipeline on both sides, filtered to listings with at least one booking in the last twelve months. Occupancy medians are drawn from 2,122 active New Brunswick listings and 4,206 in Toronto.

Frequently asked questions

Is New Brunswick or Toronto better for Airbnb investment?
Toronto, on the data we track. It leads on stronger RevPAR (£25 vs £18), higher occupancy (56% vs 42%), and higher median annual revenue (£9,022 vs £6,473). New Brunswick is not the weak side of this pair, though — it wins on a higher nightly rate (£87 vs £75).
Which has higher occupancy, New Brunswick or Toronto?
Toronto, at 56% median occupancy against 42% in New Brunswick — a gap of 14 points. That is a wide spread by short-term rental standards and usually reflects a structural demand difference rather than better hosting. Over the last twelve months New Brunswick gained 22.3 points and Toronto gained 23.1 points, so the gap is widening.
Which has higher nightly rates, New Brunswick or Toronto?
New Brunswick, at £87 a night against £75 in Toronto — roughly 15.4% more. The nightly rate is not the whole story, though. On revenue per available night — rate multiplied by how often the room actually sells — Toronto comes out ahead at £25 against £18, so Toronto's cheaper nights are more than repaid by how often they fill.
Which has stronger year-over-year growth, New Brunswick or Toronto?
Toronto, on occupancy: +23.1 points over the last twelve months against +22.3 points in New Brunswick. Nightly rates held flat in New Brunswick and fell 3.7% in Toronto 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, New Brunswick or Toronto?
Toronto, with 11,370 active listings against 3,390 in New Brunswick. 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 New Brunswick vs Toronto?
Toronto earns more: roughly £9,022 a year for a median listing against £6,473 in New Brunswick. 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 New Brunswick
Occupancy, ADR, neighborhoods, regulation
Market guide
Airbnb in Toronto
Occupancy, ADR, neighborhoods, regulation
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