Ontario caps 2025 rent increases at 2.5 per cent

Ontario landlords will be able to increase rent by up to 2.5 per cent next year according to the increase guideline published by the Ford government over the weekend.

The rate increase is the same used in each of the last two years and is currently the “lowest rate in the country,” according to a government statement, which adds that without the cap the increase would have been 3.1 per cent due to the recent rate of inflation.

The government set the rent increase guideline at zero in 2021 during the pandemic and raised it to 1.2 per cent for 2022.

Ontario NDP housing critic Jessica Bell says the current housing crisis has never made it more expensive to rent or own a home in Ontario.

“The Conservatives have had six years to fix the housing crisis, and they’ve failed,” she said in a statement. “Their refusal to bring back meaningful rent control and allowing provincial rents to continue rising by three times the rent increase guidelines clearly tell us that they have no intention of making life more affordable for renters.”

Rent control only applies to units first occupied by anyone, not just the current renter, before Nov. 15, 2018. For any units that came to market after, there is no limit to how much rent can be raised annually.

Landlords can also apply to the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) for increases above 2.5 per cent. They must also give tenants at least 90 days written notice of a rent increase and they are not allowed to increase the rent more than once a year.

Tenants who feel they have received an improper rent increase can apply to the LTB to request a correction.