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

Bottom line

Ottawa edges ahead of Winnipeg on higher occupancy (34.5% vs 31.2%), stronger RevPAR (£29 vs £23).

Head-to-head metrics

	Ottawa	Winnipeg
Median occupancy	34.5%	31.2%
Median daily rate	£78	£81
Median RevPAR	£29	£23
Active listings	1,796	1,417
YoY occupancy	+0 pts	-1.7 pts
YoY daily rate	+22.5%	+45.2%
Regulation risk	—	—
Annual night cap	None	None
License required	No	No

Full analysis: Ottawa vs Winnipeg

On the money side of this comparison — what a listing actually earns against the nights it has available — Ottawa finishes narrowly ahead of Winnipeg. Revenue per available night — rate and occupancy combined, the figure that actually reaches an owner — is 27.3% higher in Ottawa: £29 against £23. Across a full year the median Ottawa listing grosses £10,656 against £8,366 in Winnipeg. The margin is thin enough that a single strong year in Winnipeg would close it, so treat the ordering as a lean rather than a verdict.

The two markets reach their revenue by different routes, which is what makes this pairing worth reading rather than just tabulating. Winnipeg is the rate market: £81 a night against £78, some 3.5% more, but it converts fewer of those nights at 31.2% occupancy. Ottawa is the volume market, filling 34.5% of its calendar at a lower headline price. Revenue per available night settles it: £29 in Ottawa against £23. Rate is what you advertise; RevPAR is what you bank.

That verdict needs a caveat, because Winnipeg is not simply the weaker market of the two. Nightly rates are also climbing faster in Winnipeg, +45.2% over the last year against +22.5% in Ottawa. Its strongest submarket, St. James, clears £50 RevPAR on its own — city medians hide that kind of spread. If your model leans on that dimension, the ordering above can reasonably flip.

Neither Ottawa nor Winnipeg 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% and bottoms in February at 27.4%; Winnipeg runs from 48.5% in September down to 20.5% in February. Both swing by a similar amount across the year, so neither offers meaningfully steadier cash flow than the other.

Who each suits, then. Ottawa suits buyers who want a conventional, lightly regulated entry. Winnipeg answers to the same regulatory profile, so the split between them is operational rather than legal. It is the contrarian side: buying it means buying a market that has cooled. 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 1,796 active Ottawa listings and 1,417 in Winnipeg.

Frequently asked questions

Is Ottawa or Winnipeg better for Airbnb investment?

Ottawa, on the data we track. It leads on stronger RevPAR (£29 vs £23), higher median annual revenue (£10,656 vs £8,366), and higher occupancy (34.5% vs 31.2%). Winnipeg is not the weak side of this pair, though — it wins on faster rate growth (+45.2% vs +22.5% year over year).

Which has higher occupancy, Ottawa or Winnipeg?

Ottawa, at 34.5% median occupancy against 31.2% in Winnipeg — a gap of 3.3 points. That is a real but modest edge; a well-run listing in Winnipeg can close most of it. Over the last twelve months Ottawa was flat and Winnipeg shed 1.7 points, so the gap is widening.

Which has higher nightly rates, Ottawa or Winnipeg?

Winnipeg, at £81 a night against £78 in Ottawa — roughly 3.5% more. The nightly rate is not the whole story, though. On revenue per available night — rate multiplied by how often the room actually sells — Ottawa comes out ahead at £29 against £23, so Ottawa's cheaper nights are more than repaid by how often they fill.

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

Ottawa, on occupancy: +0 points over the last twelve months against −1.7 points in Winnipeg. Nightly rates rose 22.5% in Ottawa and rose 45.2% in Winnipeg 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 Winnipeg?

Ottawa, with 1,796 active listings against 1,417 in Winnipeg. 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 Winnipeg?

Ottawa earns more: roughly £10,656 a year for a median listing against £8,366 in Winnipeg. 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 Winnipeg →

Occupancy, ADR, neighborhoods, regulation

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