More residential units subject to rent control: minister
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The province is expanding the number of residential units that are subject to rent control.
Starting next year, units with monthly rent as high as $2,000 will be regulated under the Residential Tenancies Act. Currently, the threshold is $1,670 per month.
“This is the largest expansion of rent control in decades, and it will mean lower costs for thousands of families,” Public Service Delivery Minister Mintu Sandhu said in a news release Thursday.
The change is intended to protect affordable housing for more Manitobans by expanding the number of units subject to rent-regulation rules, the release said.
The province consulted with renters, landlords, service providers and other stakeholders about the changes and collected public feedback online.
“With stronger protections for renters, we’re making it easier to afford a good home,” said the minister, while announcing the new rent increase guideline for next year.
Manitoba’s 2027 residential rent guideline will be set at three per cent.
The annual rent increase is calculated using a formula set out in the residential rent regulation. It is based on changes in Manitoba’s consumer price index and capped within the Bank of Canada’s inflation-control target range of one to three per cent.
The three per cent guideline takes effect Jan. 1 and applies to most residential rental properties including apartments, single rooms, houses and duplexes.
It does not apply to various types of social housing, rental units owned and operated by, or for, provincial, municipal or federal governments, co-op units, not-for-profit life-lease units, approved rehabilitated rental units and residential rent complexes, and new rental units, which are exempt from the guideline for 20 years
Tenants must receive written notice of a rent increase at least three months before the increase takes effect. For example, for a rent increase to take effect Jan. 1, tenants must receive notice by Sept. 30, 2026. With few exceptions, rent can only be increased once in a 12-month period.
Landlords and tenants can contact the Residential Tenancies Branch at 204-945-2476 in Winnipeg or 1-800-782-8403 (toll-free in Manitoba) for more information about rent increases and other rights and responsibilities.
fpcity@freepress.mb.ca