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

Bottom line

Ottawa edges ahead of Victoria on higher occupancy (60% vs 48%).

Head-to-head metrics

	Ottawa	Victoria
Median occupancy	60%	48%
Median daily rate	£64	£93
Median RevPAR	£24	£36
Active listings	1,888	2,586
YoY occupancy	+25.5 pts	+13.5 pts
YoY daily rate	+2.8%	+0.6%
Regulation risk	—	—
Annual night cap	None	None
License required	No	No

Full analysis: Ottawa vs Victoria

Ottawa finishes clearly ahead of Victoria on our composite of occupancy, revenue per available night and regulation risk — and it is the calendar rather than the price tag doing the work. Ottawa sells 12 more points of its calendar — 60% median occupancy against 48% in Victoria. The twelve-month direction favours Ottawa too: occupancy there moved +25.5 points while Victoria moved +13.5 points. Those gaps are wide enough to survive a normal year's variance.

The two markets reach their revenue by different routes, which is what makes this pairing worth reading rather than just tabulating. Victoria is the rate market: £93 a night against £64, some 45.5% more, but it converts fewer of those nights at 48% occupancy. Ottawa is the volume market, filling 60% of its calendar at a lower headline price. Revenue per available night settles it: £36 in Victoria against £24. Rate is what you advertise; RevPAR is what you bank.

That verdict needs a caveat, because Victoria is not simply the weaker market of the two. Revenue per available night — rate and occupancy combined, the figure that actually reaches an owner — is 51.9% higher in Victoria: £36 against £24. Across a full year the median Victoria listing grosses £13,311 against £8,770 in Ottawa. If your model leans on that dimension, the ordering above can reasonably flip.

Neither Ottawa nor Victoria 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. Ottawa peaks in September at 53.8% and bottoms in February at 29.6%; Victoria runs from 56.6% in October down to 39.6% in May. Victoria is the steadier of the two at 17 points peak-to-trough against 24.2 — easier to underwrite against a mortgage — while Ottawa 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. Ottawa suits buyers who want a conventional, lightly regulated entry and 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. Victoria answers to the same regulatory profile, so the split between them is operational rather than legal: it is the market for an owner who can hold rate through the shoulder season rather than discounting to fill the calendar. Every figure above comes from the same Inside Airbnb snapshot pipeline on both sides, dated 2025-09, filtered to listings with at least one booking in the last twelve months. Occupancy medians are drawn from 707 active Ottawa listings and 866 in Victoria.

Frequently asked questions

Is Ottawa or Victoria better for Airbnb investment?

Ottawa, on the data we track. It leads on higher occupancy (60% vs 48%), the better occupancy trend (+25.5 points vs +13.5 points year over year), and a thinner competitive field (1,888 vs 2,586 active listings). Victoria is not the weak side of this pair, though — it wins on stronger RevPAR (£36 vs £24).

Which has higher occupancy, Ottawa or Victoria?

Ottawa, at 60% median occupancy against 48% in Victoria — a gap of 12 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 Ottawa gained 25.5 points and Victoria gained 13.5 points, so the gap is widening.

Which has higher nightly rates, Ottawa or Victoria?

Victoria, at £93 a night against £64 in Ottawa — roughly 45.5% more. Revenue per available night agrees rather than contradicts: £36 in Victoria against £24, so the rate premium survives contact with the occupancy figures.

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

Ottawa, on occupancy: +25.5 points over the last twelve months against +13.5 points in Victoria. Nightly rates rose 2.8% in Ottawa and rose 0.6% in Victoria 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, Ottawa or Victoria?

Victoria, with 2,586 active listings against 1,888 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 Ottawa vs Victoria?

Victoria earns more: roughly £13,311 a year for a median listing against £8,770 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 Ottawa →

Occupancy, ADR, neighborhoods, regulation

Market guide

Airbnb in Victoria →

Occupancy, ADR, neighborhoods, regulation

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