Rent Increases
Are you covered by the Residential Tenancies Act?
Please note that the information on this page is for tenants covered under the Residential Tenancies Act (RTA), specifically those who live in for-profit rental housing. You may be excluded from all or parts of the Residential Tenancies Act if you live in social housing, non-profit housing, co-operative housing, a student dormitory, a shelter, a jail/prison, or a care home. If you share a kitchen or bathroom with your landlord or a landlord's close family member, you are likely exempt from the RTA (unless the landlord moved in after you moved in).
My landlord is trying to raise my rent. What can I do?
To raise rent, landlords need to wait one year since last raising your rent. A notice of rent increase must be submitted to tenants using the proper Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) form (N1 or N2 form) at least 90 days before the increase takes effect.
Unless your building was built after November 2018, they need to adhere to the provincial guideline for a rent increase. The allowable rent increase for 2023 is 2.5 per cent.
In 2023, landlords cannot raise your rent higher than 2.5 per cent unless an Above Guideline Increase has been approved by the LTB. Your landlord must provide you with a copy of the AGI application if requested, and you and your neighbours have a right to challenge the request at the hearing. Currently, a landlord can ask the Landlord and Tenant Board for an Above Guideline Increase for up to 9 per cent over three years (3 per cent, 3 per cent, and 3 percent), in addition to the guideline increase.
More about Above Guideline Increases (AGIs)
A landlord might issue you a rent increase notice (N1 form) that asks you to pay an Above Guideline Increase that has not been approved by the Landlord and Tenant Board. You do not have to pay it! You are only required to pay the guideline increase (2.5 per cent for 2023). Contact the Oakwood Vaughan Tenant Union right away if your landlord has given you a notice of an Above Guideline Increase. If you live in Oakwood Vaughan, we can help you and your neighbours fight the increase!
It's unfair, but unfortunately the Landlord and Tenant Board can approve an Above Guideline Increase that is retroactive to the date that you received the notice. We recommend keeping this money aside in case the LTB approves the requested increase in the future.
Rent increases and intimidation
Sometimes landlords try to coerce tenants into agreeing to a rent increase that is greater than the provincial limit. Sometimes they try to make tenants feel guilty for living in an affordable, rent-controlled apartment. Sometimes they threaten to sell the apartment or house. Or they threaten to issue an eviction for "landlord's own use." Did you know that landlords can only evict for "landlord's own use" if the rental property has three units or less?
You do not have to agree to an illegal rent increase! If you are feeling intimidated by your landlord, please contact OVTU. We can talk to you about your options. You have the right to live in an affordable, rent-controlled unit!
Rent increases for buildings built after November 2018
It's incredibly unfair, but unfortunately rent control does not apply to buildings built after November 2018. This means that landlords can increase rents any amount they choose above the annual guideline limit. Doug Ford's government introduced this policy, and is a disaster for renters.
However, if your apartment unit was used for residential purposes before November 2018, you DO qualify for rent control. This includes apartments that are rented out for the first time after November 2018, but were used by the owner for residential purposes prior to November 2018.