Rent regulation in Canada
Rent regulation in Canada is a set of laws and policies which control the amount by which rental prices for real property can increase year to year. Each province can pass legislation, where the purpose is to limit rent prices increasing beyond what is affordable for most home dwellers.
History[]
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.
British Columbia[]
Manitoba[]
New Brunswick[]
Newfoundland and Labrador[]
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 .
The Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 is the current law in Ontario that governs landlord and tenant relations in residential rental accommodations.[1] The Act received royal assent 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 The Act repealed and replaced the Tenant Protection Act, 1997 and created the Landlord and Tenant Board as a replacement for the Ontario Rental Housing Tribunal.[2]
Rent control in Ontario formerly only applied to units that were first built or occupied before November 1, 1991.[3] 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.[4] On April 20, 2017, Premier of Ontario Kathleen Wynne, 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.[5]
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&Markham, 1996).
Prince Edward Island[]
Quebec[]
See Quebec rental board
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.
Current law[]
Alberta[]
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, 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.[6]
Ontario[]
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Saskatchewan[]
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.
See also[]
- Rent regulation
- Rent control in England and Wales
Notes[]
- ^ Pierre Boiron; Claude Boiron (2010). Commercial Real Estate Investing in Canada: The Complete Reference for Real Estate Professionals. John Wiley & Sons. p. 698. ISBN 978-0-470-73906-8.
- ^ "Newsroom : Residential Tenancies Act Takes Effect January 31, 2007". News.ontario.ca. Retrieved 2013-07-01.
- ^ http://o.canada.com/business/rent-increase-loophole-leaves-ontario-renters-vulnerable[dead link]
- ^ "Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, s. 6(2)". E-Laws. Government of Ontario. 24 July 2014. Retrieved 2 November 2014.
- ^ "Bye bye 1991 loophole — rent control to expand to all rental units in Ontario". CBC News. Retrieved 2017-04-21.
- ^ Hager, Mike (17 July 2016). "Critics say B.C. Laws don't offer renters enough protection". The Globe and Mail.
References[]
- Consultations to address affordable housing shortage by Laurie Monsebraaten (Toronto Star, 20 July 2009)
- Pressure mounts for Ontario to extend rent controls to all tenants by Susan Pigg (Toronto Star, 31 May 2013)
- Ontario NDP wants to close rent control loophole by William Wolfe-Wylie (Postmedia News, 4 June 2013)
- Gilderbloom, J. I., &Markham, J. P. (1996). Moderate rent control: sixty cities over 20 years. Journal of Urban Affairs, 18(4), 409-410. doi:10.1111/ j.1467-9906.1996.tb00388.x
External links[]
- Ontario law
- Rent regulation
- Real property law of Canada
- Regulation in Canada