The Ontario government has announced that the annual Rent Increase Guideline, the maximum percentage by which a landlord can increase the rent for most sitting residential tenants without approval from the Landlord and Tenant Board, is 1.6 per cent for 2015. The guideline is in effect from January 1, 2015 through December 31, 2015 and covers roughly 85% of private market tenants.
In order to take a guideline increase, a landlord must provide tenants with a written notice at least 90 days before the rent increase is supposed to take effect. Moreover, a landlord can only raise a tenant’s rent once every 12 months with written notice.