Ontario government caps 2015 rent increases at 1.6 per cent

TORONTO – The Ontario government is capping next year’s rent increases at 1.6 per cent.

The cap, also known as the rent increase guideline, is the maximum a landlord can raise a tenant’s rent without the approval of the Landlord and Tenant Board.

It applies to rent increases between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2015.

The guideline is based on the Ontario Consumer Price Index, a measure of inflation calculated monthly by Statistics Canada.

The 2014 rent increase guideline was just 0.8 per cent – the second-lowest cap since rent regulation was brought in almost 40 years ago.

The guideline covers about 85 per cent of private residential units in Ontario and applies only to buildings built before November 1991.