La Malbaie Rental Market 2026: When Tourism and Housing Rights Collide on the St. Lawrence

La Malbaie is a genuinely unusual case in Quebec housing. This 8,200-person city in Charlevoix — famous for its Casino, the Manoir Richelieu hotel, and a food scene that draws visitors from across Canada — is also the site of one of Quebec's most clearly documented conflicts between short-term tourism rentals and the housing needs of permanent residents. Rentack digs into the full picture.

The Rental Market in La Malbaie: A Market That's Barely Visible Online

La Malbaie is too small to be covered by the CMHC's annual rental market survey, which is limited to urban centres of 10,000 or more. There are no official vacancy or rent figures. That statistical silence doesn't mean the problem doesn't exist — it means the problem is harder to quantify.

What is confirmed from multiple verified sources:

Long-term rental prices in La Malbaie run approximately:

• $750–$950/month for a 1-bedroom (3½ in Quebec naming)
• $900–$1,150/month for a 2-bedroom (4½)

These rents, while below major urban centres, are a genuine stretch for households whose incomes depend on the tourism sector — which is inherently seasonal.

Availability of long-term units is described by local actors, Mayor Michel Couturier, and regional media as "critical." Workers at the Casino de Charlevoix, the Manoir Richelieu, public services, and local businesses struggle to find year-round housing. Economic development is being actively constrained by the housing shortage — a point made explicitly by Charlevoix development partners.

The Airbnb Factor: Numbers That Tell the Story

The most distinctive and best-documented element of La Malbaie's rental market is the short-term rental displacement effect. FRAPRU compiled data from Inside Airbnb that reveals the scale:

In the Charlevoix-Est RCM (which includes La Malbaie): 130 entire-unit listings on Airbnb, representing 2.3% of the RCM's housing stock.

In the adjacent Charlevoix RCM (which includes Baie-Saint-Paul): that figure reached 8.4% — the highest ratio relative to total housing stock of any RCM analyzed by FRAPRU in Quebec at the time of the study.

To put 130 units in context: La Malbaie has roughly 4,500 dwellings in total. Removing even 2–3% from the long-term rental market meaningfully shrinks an already small pool. Add weekly chalet rentals, registered tourist residences, and informal arrangements that don't appear on Airbnb, and the true displacement is larger than the data alone shows.

The direct consequence for renters: search "apartment for rent La Malbaie" online and you get flooded with nightly and weekly tourist accommodation. Long-term rental listings for permanent residents are nearly invisible — which is exactly the gap Rentack fills.

The City's Response: 193 Zoning Rules to Contain Short-Term Rentals

La Malbaie's municipal response to Airbnb is one of the most ambitious in Quebec.

When the Quebec government modified the Tourist Accommodation Act in 2021 — expanding the circumstances under which primary residences could be listed on Airbnb — La Malbaie's council decided to fight back through municipal zoning law.

The scope was remarkable: the city announced it would pass 193 individual zoning regulations — one for each applicable zone in the municipal territory — to prohibit or restrict short-term tourist rentals in residential areas. Special council sessions were held specifically to process this volume of regulatory work.

Mayor Michel Couturier was unambiguous in local media: "We don't want more Airbnbs." Before this push, the city had already reduced the number of zones permitting tourist residences to 30 specific areas — and was working to reduce that further.

This regulatory approach is among the most proactive in Quebec for protecting permanent residential housing from tourist platform pressure. As the rules take effect progressively, they should return some units to the long-term market over time — though enforcement remains the critical variable.

The Key Project: 24 Affordable Units on Rue John-Nairne (winter 2026)

April 2025 brought the most concrete institutional response to La Malbaie's housing shortage in recent memory.

The Quebec government, Desjardins, the City of La Malbaie, and the Coopérative de développement immobilier de Charlevoix announced the construction of 24 affordable housing units at 100, rue John-Nairne, in La Malbaie.

Project details:

• A two-and-a-half storey building with 31 parking spaces
• Total budget: $5.8 million, including more than $3 million from the Quebec government
• $275,000 in patient capital from Desjardins + $24,000 from the Fonds d'aide au développement du milieu of the Caisse Desjardins de Charlevoix-Est
• Land donated by the City of La Malbaie
• Managed by the Coopérative de développement immobilier de Charlevoix
• Contractors: Construction Éclair, EMS Ingénierie, RD Technologies, and Lemay Michaud Architecture Design

Construction began in May 2025 after the spring thaw. First tenants were set to move in winter 2026. The project's stated purpose: housing low-income families who want to settle in La Malbaie — directly targeting the workers and young families that employers are struggling to attract and retain.

Laurence Bessone, board chair of the Coopérative de développement immobilier de Charlevoix, made the economic stakes explicit: Desjardins is contributing "to provide affordable housing in a context where the lack of options is holding back economic development and the vitality of the territory."

The project falls under the Desjardins Affordable Housing Initiative — a provincial-private partnership targeting 1,750 affordable units across Quebec by end of 2025, which significantly exceeded its targets.

What This Means for Different Groups

Permanent residents and workers: La Malbaie remains a difficult market in 2026, but two dynamics are slowly reshaping it. The 193 zoning regulations create regulatory pressure on short-term rentals that should, over time, return units to the long-term market. And the 24 new affordable units on Rue John-Nairne — modest in number — signal a clear political and institutional commitment to permanent residential supply. Casino de Charlevoix, Manoir Richelieu, healthcare, education, and municipal services all need workers who need housing; this project is a direct answer to that need.

Landlords offering long-term rentals: Rentack lists only year-round rentals — your unit is found by people looking for a permanent home, not a weekend getaway. In a market where long-term listings are buried under tourist accommodation, that distinction has real value.

The Route 138 Reality

La Malbaie sits roughly 145km from Quebec City on Route 138, which follows the north shore of the St. Lawrence. The drive takes 1.5 to 2 hours depending on conditions and season. Without regular intercity transit service to Quebec City, La Malbaie is fundamentally a destination for people who work here or who can work remotely.

For a doctor posted to the Centre hospitalier de Charlevoix, a secondary school or cégep teacher, or a remote worker who visits Quebec City occasionally, La Malbaie is a realistic and genuinely attractive residential option — if suitable housing can be found. That's the core promise of both the new John-Nairne units and the regulatory work on short-term rentals.

Sources: Le Charlevoisien, 2021–2025; FRAPRU / Inside Airbnb data for Charlevoix; Government of Quebec press release April 2025; CMHC press release 2024; TVA CIMT-CHAU 2023; Portail Constructo, April 2025. Compiled by Rentack, July 2026.

Long-term rentals in La Malbaie: https://www.rentack.com/apartments-for-rent/la-malbaie. Landlords: dashboard.rentack.com.