Rent is getting really expensive in Ontario, especially in cities like Toronto and Ottawa. And with the rising inflation, rent increases can be unaffordable for many Ontarians. Thankfully, landlords can’t hike up rent arbitrarily. Not in Ontario, anyway. There are rent rules in place in the province, which restrict how much landlords can increase rent.
The question is, how much can landlords increase rent in Ontario? Let’s go over the Ontario rent increase guidelines.
How Much Will Ontario Rent Increase In 2024?
For 2024, the rent increase guideline is 2.5%. That means landlords cannot increase rent by any more than 2.5%.
The rent guideline is calculated using the Ontario Consumer Price Index. The data collected from this index from June to May is used to set the next year’s rent guideline.
How Do You Calculate Your Rent Increase Cap?
If your rent is currently $1,500 per month, it cannot be increased by more than $37.50. To calculate this simply multiply 2.5% by your current rent: $1,500 x 2.5%.
In this case, your landlord can increase your rent up to $1,537.50.
When Can A Landlord Increase Your Rent In Ontario?
For the most part, landlords can increase rent in the following scenarios:
- 12 months after the start of a lease
- 12 months after the last rent increase
Ontario Rent Increase 2024 Notice Requirements
Before rent is increased, landlords must provide tenants with at least 90 days’ written notice.
Ontario Rent Increase Over The Years
The following chart shows the rent increase guidelines over the past 5 years:
| Year | Rent Guideline |
| 2023 | 2.5% |
| 2022 | 1.2% |
| 2021 | 0% |
| 2020 | 2.2% |
| 2019 | 1.8% |
What If I Can’t Afford My Rent Increase In Ontario 2024?
If your new monthly rent is more than you can handle, you might not be able to cover the full rent payment going forward. In this case, you have a few options to consider.
Speak To Your Landlord
Talk to your landlord before you miss a rent payment. Depending on the situation, your landlord may be open to giving you an extension on your rent without penalty, especially if you’ve been responsible with your rent payments up until now.
How To Negotiate A Lower Rent Increase
The landlord may even be willing to barter; for instance, perhaps you can negotiate a lower rent payment for the next little while in exchange for performing certain tasks, such as snow plowing, lawn maintenance, painting, or other property maintenance chores.
However, this is best as a short-term solution. If you feel that you won’t be able to keep up with rent for the long haul, you’ll need to come up with alternative arrangements.
Apply For A Personal Loan
If you need a few months to recover from a financial emergency, you may want to think about taking out a personal loan. You can then use the funds to cover the next few months’ rent until you’re back on your feet.
In the meantime, you’ll simply need to repay the personal loan back, which can come up to a couple of hundered dollars depending on the loan amount, term and interest.
Let’s say you apply for a $10,000 personal loan with a 5-year term and a rate of 11.5%. With that, you could use that $10,000 to cover about 6-7 months of rent, given that your rent is $1,500. Then slowly pay your loan back with manageable monthly payments of $219.
Keep in mind that a low-interest rate is key to keeping your personal loan affordable. That’s why it’s important to qualify for a low rate, and your credit score plays a big role in this. As such, before you apply for a personal loan, be sure to check your credit to see where you stand. You can check your score for free using Loans Canada’s CompareHub.
Use Your Credit Card
Landlords don’t usually take credit card payments as a form of rent. But you can use third-party services that pay your rent with your credit card and deposit the funds into your landlord’s account on your behalf. That way, your rent is paid in full and on time, and you have more time to come up with the money to pay off your credit card balance.
In the meantime, you can earn rewards points with every dollar spent using your credit card and build credit with timely bill payments.
Get Help From A Rent Bank
A rent bank is a service that offers low- or no-interest loans to help cover rent to qualifying individuals. You can use the money to pay your rent and repay the loan through installment payments. Repayment schedules are flexible to ensure they suit your financial situation.
What Happens If I Don’t Pay My Rent In Ontario?
If you don’t pay your rent, your landlord has the right to end your lease early and evict you. But there’s a process they must follow.
In Ontario, your landlord can issue you a Notice to End your Tenancy Early for Non-payment of Rent. If you’re on a yearly or monthly lease, the landlord must give you at least 14 days notice. If you’re on a weekly or daily tenancy, your landlord must give you at least 7 days notice.
You’ll have a chance to come up with the outstanding rent before eviction. If you don’t, your landlord can apply to the Landlord and Tenant Board for an order to evict you. Inevitably, you’ll need to pay the landlord the overdue rent in either scenario.
How Much Is Rent In Ontario?
Rent varies a lot across Ontario. Some cities are very expensive, while others are much more affordable. Here are a few cities in Ontario and their average rent for a 1-bedroom apartment, as of end of 2023:
| City | Average Monthly Rent |
| Toronto | $2,954 |
| Oakville | $2,532 |
| Mississauga | $2,322 |
| Ottawa | $2,112 |
| Brampton | $2,176 |
| Oshawa | $1,876 |
Unsurprisingly, Toronto is the most expensive place to rent in Ontario. The rent tends to be expensive in and around the Greater Toronto Area, and gets lower the further outside the GTA you go.
Does Ontario Have Rent Control?
Ontario has rent control guidelines in place to keep living costs affordable for residents. Rent control means that landlords are only allowed to increase your rent by a specific amount every year. In general, rent can only increase once every 12 months, and landlords must provide tenants with written notice of an increase in rent at least 90 days beforehand.
However, these guidelines do not apply to newly occupied units. There is no maximum rent amount that a landlord can charge a new tenant, except in the case of non-profit housing.
So, landlords can choose the rent they want to charge a new tenant when a lease is initially signed. But once the lease is in effect, the landlord must abide by the rent control guidelines.
Ontario Rent Increase 2024: How To Negotiate A Rent Reduction
Although your landlord can legally increase your rent once every 12 months, it might be too much for you to cover. In this case, you may want to negotiate with the landlord to not only pause any rent increases, but even reduce your rent. Here are a couple of ways to do that:
- Offer incentives. Some landlords may accept lower rent payments in exchange for incentives. As mentioned above, perhaps you could work on the property performing several chores for a few dollars off your rent. Your landlord would have to pay someone to handle maintenance tasks anyway, so why not pay you in the form of a minor rent deduction?
- Explain your situation. Your landlord may be open to reducing your rent temporarily if you’re in a challenging financial situation. If you can’t cover 100% of next month’s rent, perhaps your landlord may accept 80%, for example. You may be in a stronger position to negotiate this kind of deal if you’ve been a responsible tenant in the past.
In many cases, landlords may find it less burdensome to accept a slightly lower rent amount than to go through the process of evicting their tenants. As such, you may have some luck when working out an alternative arrangement with your landlord.
Ontario Rent Increase FAQs
What is Ontario’s maximum allowable rent increase?
When must a landlord provide you with a notice for Ontario rent increase in 2024?
When can a landlord increase my rent?
What can I do if my landlord is trying to increase my rent above the set 2.5%?
Who can I contact about rent increase issues?
- By email: ltb@ontario.ca
- By telephone: 416-645-8080 or toll-free at 1-888-332-3234
Final Thoughts Ontario Rent Increase In 2024
Rent increase guidelines are meant to ensure that landlords don’t increase rent by too much, and too often. Without these guidelines in place, tenants would be at the mercy of landlords and may quickly find themselves unable to afford their rent payments. But with rent rules in place, tenants are protected, while landlords are still given the opportunity to increase rent prices to reflect the increase in inflation and its effect on property carrying costs.
