Rent control in Ontario refers to a system of

rent regulation Rent regulation is a system of laws for the rental market of dwellings, with controversial effects on affordability of housing and tenancies. Generally, a system of rent regulation involves: *Price controls, limits on the rent that a landlord ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

which limits the amount by which the rent paid by tenants for rental accommodation can increase. It applies to any unit that was first occupied for residential purposes before November 15, 2018.

History

Rent regulation was first briefly introduced in Ontario under the ''National Housing Act 1944''. After lobbying by business it was repealed in under a decade. The modern history of rent controls began in July 1975 when the '' Residential Premises Rent Review Act 1975'' was enacted after the demand for rent controls became a major issue in the period leading to the 1975 provincial election. In 1979, the ''Residential Tenancies Act'' was enacted. In 1985, the new Liberal government tightened rent controls with the ''Residential Rent Regulation Act'' and in 1992 the

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Editors of ''Encyclopædia Britann ...

government of

Bob Rae Robert Keith Rae (born August 2, 1948) is a Canadian diplomat and former politician who is the current Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations since 2020. He previously served as the 21st premier of Ontario from 1990 to 1995, leader of the ...

passed the ''Rent Control Act 1992''. In 1996, existing rent regulations in the province which provided for

vacancy control Rent regulation is a system of laws for the rental market of dwellings, with controversial effects on affordability of housing and tenancies. Generally, a system of rent regulation involves: *Price controls, limits on the rent that a landlord ...

were eliminated by the provincial government. The ''Tenant Protection Act 1997'' was enacted by the Progressive Conservative government of

Mike Harris Michael Deane Harris (born January 23, 1945) is a retired Canadian politician who served as the 22nd premier of Ontario from 1995 to 2002 and leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario (PC Party) from 1990 to 2002. Taking the PC ...

and proclaimed in June 1998. The Act retained selected rights and obligations contained in Part IV of the previous ''Landlord and Tenant Act''. (Parts I, II, and III were retitled the ''Commercial Tenancies Act''.) The ''Tenant Protection Act'' both repealed the ''Rent Control Act'' and removed the dispute resolution process of the ''Landlord Tenant Act'', including evictions and rent increases, from the Ontario court system and assigned jurisdiction to a newly created

quasi-judicial A quasi-judicial body is a non-judicial body which can interpret law. It is an entity such as an arbitration panel or tribunal board, which can be a public administrative agency (not part of the judicial branch of government) but also a contra ...

body, the Ontario Rental Housing Tribunal. Under the TPA landlord applications for eviction were automatically granted without a hearing unless the tenant filed a notice of dispute within five days. This provision had been the subject of a complaint to the Ontario Ombudsman and was removed from the new Act. The ''Tenant Protection Act'' was repealed and replaced by the '' Residential Tenancies Act'', which received

royal assent Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in othe ...

on June 22, 2006, and was proclaimed into law on January 31, 2007. The new act also created the

Landlord and Tenant Board The Landlord and Tenant Board () is an adjudicative tribunal operating in the province of Ontario that provides dispute resolution of landlord and Leasehold estate, tenant matters under the ''Residential Tenancies Act, 2006''. It is one of the 13 ...

as a replacement for the Ontario Rental Housing Tribunal. On April 20, 2017, Premier of Ontario

Kathleen Wynne Kathleen O'Day Wynne ( ; born May 21, 1953) is a former Canadian politician who served as the 25th premier of Ontario and leader of the Ontario Liberal Party from 2013 to 2018. She was Member of Provincial Parliament (Ontario), member of provinci ...

, along with

Chris Ballard Chris Ballard may refer to: * Chris Ballard (American football) (born 1969), American football general manager for the Indianapolis Colts * Chris Ballard (journalist) (born 1973), American sports writer for ''Sports Illustrated'' * Chris Ballard (p ...

, Minister of Housing, announced the Fair Housing Plan. Until then, rent control in Ontario had only applied to units that were first built or occupied before November 1, 1991. If the rental unit was in an apartment building constructed (or converted from a non-residential use) after November 1, 1991, then the rent control provisions of the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 did not apply. However, the Fair Housing Plan included a provision to roll back the post-1991 rent control exemption such that all private rental units, including ones built or first occupied on or after November 1, 1991, were to be subject to rent control. This change was effective from April 20, 2017, until November 15, 2018, shortly after a change in government.

Current law

Premier of Ontario Doug Ford's Conservative Government enacted legislation in 2018 such that rent control only applies to rental units created and occupied prior to November 15, 2018. It does not apply to new buildings, additions to existing buildings and most new basement apartments that are occupied for the first time for residential purposes after November 15, 2018. The '' Residential Tenancies Act'' continues to otherwise govern

landlord and tenant A leasehold estate is an ownership of a temporary right to hold land or property in which a lessee or a tenant has rights of real property by some form of title from a lessor or landlord. Although a tenant does hold rights to real property, a lea ...

relations in residential rental accommodations.

Annual rent increase guideline

Annual rent increases in Ontario, from 1991 to 2025, calculated with the Ontario Consumer Price Index.

Notes

References

Intertenancy Rent Decontrol in Ontario
(PDF) by Lawrence B Smith (

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

, 2003)
''An economic assessment of rent controls: The Ontario experience''
by Lawrence B. Smith (The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, 1988, Volume 1, Issue 3) pp 217–231

by Laurie Monsebraaten (

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands (Torstar), Daily News Brands division. ...

, 20 July 2009)
''Pressure mounts for Ontario to extend rent controls to all tenants''
by Susan Pigg (

, 31 May 2013)
''Ontario NDP wants to close rent control loophole''
by William Wolfe-Wylie (

Postmedia News Postmedia Network Canada Corp. (also known as Postmedia Network, Postmedia News or Postmedia) is an American-owned Canadian-based media conglomerate consisting of the publishing properties of the former Canwest, with primary operations in En ...

, 4 June 2013)

External links

''Residential Tenancies Act'', 2006

{{Ontario Landlord–tenant law Ontario law

Real property law of Canada Regulation in Canada Affordable housing in Canada