Rent regulation in Canada is a set of laws and policies which control the amount by which rental prices for

real property In English common law, real property, real estate, immovable property or, solely in the US and Canada, realty, refers to parcels of land and any associated structures which are the property of a person. For a structure (also called an Land i ...

can increase year to year. Each province and territory can pass legislation, where the purpose is to limit rent prices increasing beyond what is affordable for most home dwellers.

By province & territory

Alberta

The '' Residential Tenancies Act and Regulations'' are the laws governing the rental of residential property and leading the relationship between the landlord and their tenants in the province of

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

. In Alberta, there is no limit to the rent amount landlords are permitted to charge. Rents can only be increased once a year for an existing tenant. A notice of rent increase must be provided three months in advance for periodic leases (a rolled-over fixed-term lease), and there is no notice requirements for fixed-term leases.

British Columbia

According to Mike Hagar for ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...

'', in BC rents can only be increased once a year for existing tenants. A rent increase cannot exceed 2.9 per cent in 2016. Written notice of a rent increase must be provided three months in advance.

Nova Scotia

The ''Residential Tenancies Act and Regulations'' are the laws governing the rental of residential property and leading the relationship between the landlord and their tenants in the province of Nova Scotia.

Ontario

Rent regulation was first introduced in Ontario under the '' National Housing Act, 1944''. The ''

Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 :''This is the Residential Tenancies Act of Ontario. For other jurisdictions, see Residential Tenancies Act (disambiguation).'' The ''Residential Tenancies Act, 2006'' (, RTA 2006) is the law in the province of Ontario, Canada, that governs l ...

'' is the current law in Ontario that governs

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. The Act 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 Act repealed and replaced the ''Tenant Protection Act'', 1997, and 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. Rent control in Ontario formerly 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. 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, Minister of Housing, announced the Fair Housing Plan. The plan includes 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 will be subject to rent control. This change will be effective April 20, 2017 regardless of when the legislation is passed. Additionally, a concern of negative impact of rent control is that increasing rent prices for continuing tenants are generally smaller than new tenants. Thus, setting this policy might discourage residential mobility, actually a process that change lives and neighborhoods, since rent price increases for continuing tenants are generally smaller than for new residents.Gilderbloom, J. I., and J. P. Markham. 1996. "Moderate rent control: sixty cities over 20 years." '' Journal of Urban Affairs'' 18(4):409-10. .

Quebec

Saskatchewan

The ''Residential Tenancies Act and Regulations'' are the laws governing the rental of residential property and leading the relationship between the landlord and their tenants in the province of

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

. In Saskatchewan, there is no limit to the rent amount landlords are permitted to charge. Notice of rent increase must be provided two months or one year in advance, length of notice depending on if it is a fixed term lease.

Yukon

In the

Yukon Yukon () is a Provinces and territories of Canada, territory of Canada, bordering British Columbia to the south, the Northwest Territories to the east, the Beaufort Sea to the north, and the U.S. state of Alaska to the west. It is Canada’s we ...

, there is no limit to the rent landlords can set at the beginning of a lease. However, they can only increase rent once within 12 months by 2%, more only if the inflation rate of the previous calendar year was higher, but not more than 5% in any case. Furthermore, no-cause evictions have been banned. These rules are not codified in any law passed by the Yukon legislature, but by two Commissioner's Orders-In-Council (Yukon OIC 2023/32 and 2023/33). Exemptions exist where the Government is the landlord and the rent is tied to the tenant's income. Fixed term leases are permitted by the Act, but if the landlord allows the tenant to stay longer without entering into a new fixed term lease, the lease turns into a month-to-month lease that only the tenant can cancel without cause.

Notes

References

''Consultations to address affordable housing shortage''
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) *Gilderbloom, J. I., and J. P. Markham. 1996. "Moderate rent control: sixty cities over 20 years." '' Journal of Urban Affairs'' 18(4):409-10. .

External links

''Residential Tenancies Act'', 2006

Landlord and Tenant Board
{{Ontario Ontario law

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 ...

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