The government of Ontario has approved the highest rent increases in almost ten years.
In 2023, rents will be capped at a maximum of 2.5 percent, more than double the 2022 increase but according to the province, it is lower than it could have been if current inflation rates are taken into consideration.
Meanwhile, the cap does not apply to rental units that are occupied for the first time after November 15, 2018, residential units that are vacant, community housing, long-term care homes and commercial properties.
The rent hike guideline is the maximum amount a property owner can increase the rent during the year for most tenants without getting the approval of the Landlord and Tenant Board.
The guideline is calculated based on Ontario’s Consumer Price Index, which measures inflation calculated monthly by Statistics Canada using data which reflects economic conditions over the past year. With the current calculation, increases would have been set at 5.3 per cent but the government reveals it has capped rent hikes to under three percent in a bid “to help protect tenants from significant rent increases.”
The maximum rent hike in 2022 was 1.2 percent while in there was a rent freeze in 2021 in large part owing to the pandemic. In 2020, the maximum increase permitted was 2.2 percent. The last time rents were permitted to rise by 2.5 per cent was in 2013.
Interim New Democrat Leader Peter Tabuns said the increase would leave people hurting across Ontario.
While talking to reporters at Queen’s Park, he said: “I talk to tenants all the time in my riding. They are not getting pay increases. They’re not getting two and a half percent.”
NDP MPP Jessica Bell said the decision simply increases the costs on people already hurting from the high cost of living.
She said: “It’s dead wrong for Doug Ford to greenlight a rent hike right now. And let’s not forget that Ford already eviscerated rent controls on rental units built after 2018, leaving many households facing unlimited rent hikes.
“It’s got to stop. We need a premier focused on making housing affordable, not a premier taking more money away from people.”
“We continue to look for ways to make homes more attainable for hardworking Ontarians, while making it easier to build more houses and rental units to address the ongoing supply crisis,” said Steve Clark, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.
