In plain English
Most rent increases are capped at the annual rent-increase guideline set by the province.
The statute text
120 (1) No landlord may increase the rent charged to a tenant, or to an assignee under section 95, during the term of their tenancy by more than the guideline, except in accordance with section 126 or 127 or an agreement under section 121 or 123.
(2) The Minister shall determine the guideline in effect for each calendar year as follows:
1. Subject to the limitation set out in paragraph 2, the guideline for a calendar year is the percentage change from year to year in the Consumer Price Index for Ontario for prices of goods and services as reported monthly by Statistics Canada, averaged over the 12-month period that ends at the end of May of the previous calendar year, rounded to the first decimal point.
2. The guideline for a calendar year shall be not more than 2.5 per cent.
(3) The Minister shall have the guideline for each calendar year published in The Ontario Gazette not later than August 31 of the preceding year.
(3.1) The guideline for the calendar year 2021 is zero per cent, despite subsection (2) and despite the guideline published under subsection (3) in The Ontario Gazette for 2021.
(3.2) The Minister is not required to have the guideline for the calendar year 2021, as set out in subsection (3.1), published in The Ontario Gazette.
(4) The guideline for the calendar year in which the commencement date occurs is the guideline established for that year under this section as it read immediately before the commencement date.
(5) If the commencement date occurs on or after September 1 in a calendar year, the guideline for the following calendar year is the guideline established for that year under this section as it read immediately before the commencement date.
(6) The Minister shall initiate a review of the operation of this section within four years after the commencement date and thereafter within four years after the end of the previous review.
(7) In subsections (4), (5) and (6),
“commencement date” means the day section 1 of the Residential Tenancies Amendment Act (Rent Increase Guideline), 2012 comes into force.
View this section on the official Ontario e-Laws site →
Reproduced under the King’s Printer for Ontario / Open Government Licence – Ontario. Confirm against the official e-Laws consolidation before relying on it.