December 10th, 2011

Many of us have our roots in Ontario.  Or at least family members there.  You might even own a rental property in Ontario.

Many Ontario based landlords complain about overly tenant friendly legislation.  For example, you can’t legally charge for a damage deposit, you can’t tell tenants not to have pets, and a variety of other things.

You can read more about the Ontario rental industry at the Ontario Landlords Association at Ontariolandlords.ca

Now to add fuel to the fire, there is yet more big news coming from Ontario.

So what’s the big news from Ontario regarding rental properties?

Like here, Ontario has rent control.  This means you can only raise rents on your tenants annually at an amount decided by the government.

So what’s this ‘big news’ about changes to the law regarding rental properties there?

According to a government press release, the government wants to amend the Residential Tenancies Act.  The amendment will ‘cap’ rent increases at 2.5%, no matter what.  This is important news for landlords.

Why is this important?

Considering the 2012 rent increase in Ontario is 3.1%, and the British Columbia rent increase for 2012 is 4.3%, this cap could play a very large role in de-investment in the Ontario rental sector.

Why is this important for landlords in British Columbia?

If one provincial government can cap rents, so can ours.  Ontario could be seen as a ‘warning sign’ for BC landlords to understand and appreciate the importance of good government and not a government that grovels for tenant votes.

See here