Quebec City vs Toronto: which is better for Airbnb investment? (2026)

Bottom line

Quebec City edges ahead of Toronto on higher occupancy (34.5% vs 30.7%), stronger RevPAR (£44 vs £31).

Head-to-head metrics

	Quebec City	Toronto
Median occupancy	34.5%	30.7%
Median daily rate	£151	£114
Median RevPAR	£44	£31
Active listings	1,999	12,844
YoY occupancy	-9.9 pts	-0.5 pts
YoY daily rate	+61.3%	+36.7%
Regulation risk	—	—
Annual night cap	None	None
License required	No	No

Full analysis: Quebec City vs Toronto

On the money side of this comparison — what a listing actually earns against the nights it has available — Quebec City finishes clearly ahead of Toronto. Revenue per available night — rate and occupancy combined, the figure that actually reaches an owner — is 43.9% higher in Quebec City: £44 against £31. Quebec City commands 31.9% more per night, £151 against £114. Those gaps are wide enough to survive a normal year's variance.

Quebec City takes both halves of the yield equation, which is less common than it sounds. It charges more per night — £151 against £114 — and still fills more of the year, 34.5% against 30.7%. A market that leads on price and utilisation at once is normally one where demand has outrun supply, rather than one where hosts are discounting to keep the calendar busy. RevPAR reflects the double advantage at £44 against £31.

That verdict needs a caveat, because Toronto is not simply the weaker market of the two. The twelve-month direction favours Toronto too: occupancy there moved −0.5 points while Quebec City moved −9.9 points. Toronto is the deeper market at 12,844 active listings against 1,999, which usually means better comparables going in and a wider buyer pool coming out. If your model leans on that dimension, the ordering above can reasonably flip.

Neither Quebec City 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. Quebec City peaks in October at 58.9% and bottoms in January at 27.9%; Toronto runs from 63.2% in September down to 37.8% in February. Toronto is the steadier of the two at 25.4 points peak-to-trough against 31 — easier to underwrite against a mortgage — while Quebec City 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. Quebec City suits buyers who want a conventional, lightly regulated entry. It is the contrarian side: buying it means buying a market that has cooled. Toronto answers to the same regulatory profile, so the split between them is operational rather than legal. 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 1,999 active Quebec City listings and 12,844 in Toronto.

Frequently asked questions

Is Quebec City or Toronto better for Airbnb investment?

Quebec City, on the data we track. It leads on stronger RevPAR (£44 vs £31), a higher nightly rate (£151 vs £114), and faster rate growth (+61.3% vs +36.7% year over year). Toronto is not the weak side of this pair, though — it wins on the better occupancy trend (−0.5 points vs −9.9 points year over year).

Which has higher occupancy, Quebec City or Toronto?

Quebec City, at 34.5% median occupancy against 30.7% in Toronto — a gap of 3.8 points. That is a real but modest edge; a well-run listing in Toronto can close most of it. Over the last twelve months Quebec City shed 9.9 points and Toronto shed 0.5 points, so the gap is closing.

Which has higher nightly rates, Quebec City or Toronto?

Quebec City, at £151 a night against £114 in Toronto — roughly 31.9% more. Revenue per available night agrees rather than contradicts: £44 in Quebec City against £31, so the rate premium survives contact with the occupancy figures.

Which has stronger year-over-year growth, Quebec City or Toronto?

Neither is growing on occupancy — both cooled over the last year. Quebec City gave up 9.9 points and Toronto 0.5, so Toronto is the shallower decline rather than the winner. Nightly rates rose 61.3% in Quebec City and rose 36.7% in Toronto over the same window.

Which is the bigger Airbnb market, Quebec City or Toronto?

Toronto, with 12,844 active listings against 1,999 in Quebec City. 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 Quebec City vs Toronto?

Quebec City earns more: roughly £16,021 a year for a median listing against £11,131 in Toronto. 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 Quebec City →

Occupancy, ADR, neighborhoods, regulation

Market guide

Airbnb in Toronto →

Occupancy, ADR, neighborhoods, regulation

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