Rent regulation in Canada

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

Contents

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.

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. [1]

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 is the current law in Ontario that governs landlord and tenant relations in residential rental accommodations. [2] 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 The Act repealed and replaced the Tenant Protection Act, 1997, and created the Landlord and Tenant Board as a replacement for the Ontario Rental Housing Tribunal. [3]

Rent control in Ontario formerly only applied to units that were first built or occupied before November 1, 1991. [4] 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. [5] 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. [6]

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. [7]

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.

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, 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.

See also

Notes

  1. Hager, Mike (17 July 2016). "Critics say B.C. Laws don't offer renters enough protection". The Globe and Mail.
  2. 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.
  3. "Newsroom : Residential Tenancies Act Takes Effect January 31, 2007". News.ontario.ca. Retrieved 2013-07-01.
  4. "Map: Every rental in Toronto, and if it's protected by rent control | canada.com". o.canada.com. Archived from the original on 2013-10-25.
  5. "Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, s. 6(2)". E-Laws. Government of Ontario. 24 July 2014. Retrieved 2 November 2014.
  6. "Bye bye 1991 loophole — rent control to expand to all rental units in Ontario". CBC News. Retrieved 2017-04-21.
  7. Gilderbloom, J. I., and J. P. Markham. 1996. "Moderate rent control: sixty cities over 20 years." Journal of Urban Affairs 18(4):409-10. doi : 10.1111/ j.1467-9906.1996.tb00388.x.

Related Research Articles

In the United States, rent control refers to laws or ordinances that set price controls on the rent of residential housing to function as a price ceiling. More loosely, "rent control" describes several types of price control:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Landlord</span> Owner of a rented building, land or real estate

A landlord is the owner of a house, apartment, condominium, land, or real estate which is rented or leased to an individual or business, who is called a tenant. When a juristic person is in this position, the term landlord is used. Other terms include lessor, housing provider, and owner. The term landlady may be used for the female owners. The manager of a pub in the United Kingdom, strictly speaking a licensed victualler, is referred to as the landlord/landlady. In political economy it refers to the owner of natural resources alone from which an economic rent, a form of passive income, is the income received.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lease</span> Contractual agreement in which an assets owner lets someone else use it in exchange for payment

A lease is a contractual arrangement calling for the user to pay the owner for the use of an asset. Property, buildings and vehicles are common assets that are leased. Industrial or business equipment are also leased. Basically a lease agreement is a contract between two parties: the lessor and the lessee. The lessor is the legal owner of the asset, while the lessee obtains the right to use the asset in return for regular rental payments. The lessee also agrees to abide by various conditions regarding their use of the property or equipment. For example, a person leasing a car may agree to the condition that the car will only be used for personal use.

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 leasehold estate is typically considered personal property.

Property management is the operation, control, maintenance, and oversight of real estate and physical property. This can include residential, commercial, and land real estate. Management indicates the need for real estate to be cared for and monitored, with accountability for and attention to its useful life and condition. This is much akin to the role of management in any business.

Rent control in Ontario refers to a system of rent regulation in Ontario, Canada 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.

The assured shorthold tenancy (AST) is the default legal category of residential tenancy in England and Wales. It is a form of assured tenancy with limited security of tenure, which was introduced by the Housing Act 1988 and saw an important default provision and a widening of its definition made by the Housing Act 1996. Since 28 February 1997 in respect of accommodation to new tenants who are new to their landlords, the assured shorthold tenancy has become the most common form of arrangement that involves a private residential landlord. The equivalent in Scotland is short assured tenancy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Landlord and Tenant Act 1954</span> United Kingdom legislation

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The Residential Tenancies Act (RTA) is the law that governs rental housing agreements (leases) in the Canadian province of Alberta.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Assured tenancy</span> Type of housing tenancy in the United Kingdom

An assured tenancy is a legal category of residential tenancy to an individual in English land law. Statute affords a tenant under an assured tenancy a degree of security of tenure. A tenant under an assured tenancy may not be evicted without a reasonable ground in the Housing Act 1988 and, where periodic changes in rent are potentially subject to a challenge before a rent assessment committee.

Rent regulation in New York is a means of limiting the amount of rent charged on dwellings. Rent control and rent stabilization are two programs used in parts of New York state. In addition to controlling rent, the system also prescribes rights and obligations for tenants and landlords.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Landlord and Tenant Act 1985</span> United Kingdom legislation

The Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 is a UK Act of Parliament on English land law. It sets minimum standards in tenants' rights against their landlords.

The Ellis Act is a 1985 California state law that allows landlords to evict residential tenants to "go out of the rental business" in spite of desires by local governments to compel them to continue providing rental housing.

The history of rent control in England and Wales is a part of English land law concerning the development of rent regulation in England and Wales. Controlling the prices that landlords could make their tenants pay formed the main element of rent regulation, and was in place from 1915 until its abolition by the Housing Act 1988.

In England and Wales, a section 21 notice also known as a section 21 notice of possession or a section 21 eviction, is a notice under section 21 of the Housing Act 1988, that a landlord must give to their tenant to begin the process to take possession of a property let on an assured shorthold tenancy without providing a reason for wishing to take possession. The expiry of a section 21 notice does not bring a tenancy to its end. The tenancy would only be ended by a landlord obtaining an order for possession from a court, and then having that order executed by a County Court bailiff or High Court enforcement officer. Such an order for possession may not be made to take effect earlier than six months from the beginning of the first tenancy unless the tenancy is a demoted assured shorthold tenancy. If the court is satisfied that a landlord is entitled to possession, it must make an order for possession, for a date no later than 14 days after the making of the order unless exceptional hardship would be caused to the tenant in which case possession may be postponed to a date no later than six weeks after the making of the order. The court has no power to grant any adjournment or stay of execution from enforcement unless the tenant has a disability discrimination, public law or human rights defence, or the case is pending an appeal.

The Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 is the law in the province of Ontario, Canada, that governs landlord and tenant relations in residential rental accommodations. 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. Ontario's Landlord and Tenant Board is governed by the act.

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:

Rent regulation in England and Wales is the part of English land law that creates rights and obligations for tenants and landlords. The main areas of regulation concern,

The Costa–Hawkins Rental Housing Act ("Costa–Hawkins") is a California state law, enacted in 1995, which places limits on municipal rent control ordinances. Costa–Hawkins preempts the field in two major ways. First, it prohibits cities from establishing rent control over certain kinds of residential units, e.g., single-family dwellings and condominiums, and newly constructed apartment units; these are deemed exempt. Second, it prohibits "vacancy control", also called "strict" rent control. The legislation was sponsored by Democratic Senator Jim Costa and Republican Assemblymember Phil Hawkins.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Housing Act 1988</span> United Kingdom legislation

The Housing Act 1988 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom. It governs the law between landlords and tenants. The Act introduced the concepts of assured tenancy and assured shorthold tenancy. It also facilitated the transfer of council housing to not-for-profit housing associations, which was then carried out partly through the system of Large Scale Voluntary Transfer.

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