Rent Increases in Canada: Guidelines, Caps and Notice Periods by Province

There Is No National Rent Increase Rule in Canada

This article covers Canadian law. Landlords with properties in the United States should read their state's rent and notice statutes instead, because the American rules work differently.

In Canada, rent increases are governed by provincial and territorial tenancy law. Each province decides three separate things: how much rent can go up in a year, how often it can go up, and how much written notice the tenant must get. A province can regulate all three, or only the last two.

The six provinces below show the range. Ontario, British Columbia and Manitoba publish a yearly guideline or limit. Nova Scotia has a temporary statutory cap. Alberta has no cap on the amount but strict notice rules. Quebec has no fixed percentage at all and instead lets the Tribunal administratif du logement fix the rent when a tenant refuses an increase. The figures here come from each province's statute or official tenancy guidance; check the current version for your own province before relying on them.

The Rules at a Glance

The table summarizes the core rules in each province for an ordinary residential tenancy: the limit on the amount, how often rent can rise, and the written notice the tenant must receive. Each row has exceptions, which the sections that follow explain.

Ontario: The Guideline, the Exemption and Above-Guideline Increases

Ontario's government describes the rent increase guideline as the maximum a landlord can increase most tenants' rent during a year. It is set each year and capped at 2.5%. The province lists the guideline as 2.5% for 2025, 2.1% for 2026 and 1.9% for 2027. Rent can be increased only if at least 12 months have passed since the tenant moved in or since the last increase.

Notice has its own rules. The Landlord and Tenant Board's guide to the Residential Tenancies Act says a landlord must give at least 90 days' notice in writing of any rent increase, and that the proper forms for this notice (Form N1, N2 or N3) are available from the Board.

Newer units are treated differently. According to the Board's guide, units that were not occupied for residential purposes on or before November 15, 2018 may be exempt from the guideline. For those units there is no limit on the size of the increase, but the landlord must still give 90 days' written notice on the proper form, and the 12-month rule still applies.

Going above the guideline requires either the Board or the tenant. A landlord can apply to the Board where municipal taxes and charges have increased significantly, where the landlord has done major repairs or renovations (capital expenditures), or where the landlord pays for security services by people who are not its employees. Increases for capital expenditures or security services cannot be more than 3% above the guideline each year. A landlord and tenant can also agree in writing on Form N10 to an increase for a major repair, new equipment or a new service, again up to 3% above the guideline, and the tenant has five days after signing to withdraw in writing.

British Columbia and Manitoba: A Yearly Limit Set by the Province

British Columbia publishes a maximum allowable increase each year. The province lists the limit for residential tenancies as 2.3% for 2026 and 2.2% for 2027. Rent can only be increased once every 12 months, and the landlord must give the tenant three full months' notice using the Notice of Rent Increase, Form RTB-7. The province adds that landlords cannot round up when calculating the allowable increase.

BC gives tenants a direct remedy for a mistake. If a tenant has paid a rent increase higher than the legal amount, the province says the tenant can deduct the overpayment from future rent, and a tenant can apply for dispute resolution if the issue is not resolved. The province notes that other types of rent increases may be allowed in limited cases; a landlord who needs more than the yearly limit should follow the Residential Tenancy Branch's process rather than simply serving a larger notice.

Manitoba's guideline is 1.8% for 2026, and the province has announced a guideline of 3% for 2027, effective January 1, 2027. The Residential Tenancies Branch says rent can usually be increased only once every 12 months, with at least three months' notice in writing. The notice must state the new rent, the increase in dollars and as a percentage, and the tenant's right to object if the increase is above the guideline. For an increase taking effect January 1, 2027, the province says tenants must receive notice by September 30, 2026.

Many Manitoba units sit outside the guideline. The Branch lists exemptions for complexes built and occupied after March 7, 2005 (for 20 years), for units above a monthly rent threshold, and for several types of housing such as government-managed units and student housing. The threshold was $1,670 for 2026 and rises to $2,000 from 2027. A landlord who wants more than the guideline for a regulated unit must apply to the Branch and show actual operating and capital costs; anticipated costs do not qualify.

Alberta and Nova Scotia: Notice Rules With and Without a Cap

Alberta does not limit the amount of an increase. The province's information guide for landlords says there is no limit on the amount by which a landlord may raise the rent, but it does limit timing: rent cannot be increased until at least 365 days have passed since the last increase or the start of the tenancy, whichever is later, and it cannot be increased during a fixed-term tenancy.

Section 14 of Alberta's Residential Tenancies Act sets the notice: at least 12 tenancy weeks for a weekly tenancy, 3 tenancy months for a monthly tenancy and 90 days for any other periodic tenancy. The notice must give the date the increase takes effect and be dated and signed by the landlord. A notice that does not comply is void, and a tenant who paid the increase under it may recover the amount in an action in debt. The provincial guide lists failing to give the minimum notice of a rent increase as an offence with a maximum fine of $10,000.

Nova Scotia has a temporary cap. The Interim Residential Rental Increase Cap Act limits an increase for an existing tenant to 5% for the period from January 1, 2026 to December 31, 2026 and again from January 1, 2027 to December 31, 2027, measured against what the tenant was legally required to pay in the previous 12 months. The cap also applies when a landlord signs a new fixed-term lease with an existing tenant for the same premises. The Act, apart from one section on tenant applications, expires after December 31, 2027.

Nova Scotia's Residential Tenancies Act sets the notice. Section 11 bars any increase in the first 12 months of a tenancy. After that, the landlord must give written notice stating the amount and effective date of the increase four months before it takes effect for a year-to-year or month-to-month lease, and eight weeks before for a week-to-week lease, and may not increase rent more than once in a 12-month period. A fixed-term lease must itself state the amount and effective dates of any increases.

Quebec: A Notice, a Refusal and the Tribunal

Quebec works on a different model. There is no published yearly percentage. The Tribunal administratif du logement says a lessor is free to ask for a rent increase it deems just and reasonable, and the lessee has the right to accept or refuse it within one month after receiving the notice.

The notice is a notice to modify the lease at renewal, and its timing depends on the lease. For a lease of 12 months or more, it goes out 3 to 6 months before the end of the lease. For a lease of less than 12 months, it goes out 1 to 2 months before the end of the lease, and for a lease with an indeterminate term, 1 to 2 months before the proposed change. The notice must be in writing, state the proposed changes and the one-month deadline to refuse, and be signed and dated.

Silence counts as acceptance. A lessee who does not reply within the month is deemed to have accepted the renewal on the conditions the lessor proposed. If the lessee refuses, the lessor has one month after receiving the refusal to apply to the Tribunal to fix the rent; if the lessor does not apply, the lease is renewed at the same rent and on the same other conditions. The Tribunal fixes the rent under the Regulation respecting the criteria for the fixing of rent, and it says significant regulatory changes to that regulation and to the mandatory content of the notice came into effect on January 1, 2026, so a lessor should use the Tribunal's current forms and calculation tool.

Practical Steps for Landlords

Work backward from the effective date. Find the date of the last increase or the start of the tenancy, add 12 months (365 days in Alberta), then subtract the notice period for the province and the type of tenancy. Serve early: in Alberta, a notice that does not meet section 14 is void, and the other provinces likewise tie a valid increase to the full notice period.

Use the prescribed form wherever a province has one, such as Ontario's N1, N2 or N3, BC's RTB-7 and the Tribunal administratif du logement's notice models in Quebec. Do the arithmetic on the rent the tenant was lawfully paying, do not round up, and check whether the unit is exempt before relying on an exemption. Keep a copy of each notice with proof of how and when it was served, alongside the rent history for the unit. Rent collection software, TenantFort's rent ledger included, can keep the dates and amounts together, but a consistent paper file works too.

This article is general information, not legal advice. Guidelines are announced each year, temporary caps expire or are extended, and other provinces and the territories have their own rules. Check your province's tenancy statute and tribunal guidance before serving a notice, or consult a lawyer or paralegal licensed in your province.