Here is the rent increase Quebec tenants should expect in 2024

Most tenants in Quebec should get ready for another hike in rent costs,after the province's housing tribunalreleased its latest rent-increase guidelines for landlords.

Each year, the Tribunal administratif du logement(TAL) releases a set of calculations landlords can use before sending a notice of rent increase to a tenant. Those calculations are based on landlords' expenses for a particular dwelling.

According to the latest guidelines, which were released on Tuesday, tenants living in homes where heat is electric or is not included in the rentshould see their rent increase by an average of four per cent, compared to 2.3 per cent last year.

For rental homes where gas heating is included in the rent, the increase is 3.3 per cent for oil, it is 1.6 per cent.Theincreases in percentages for those types of homesissignificantly lower than last year's.

In the case of homes that are unheated or heated by electricity, a four per cent increase would mean that someone currently paying $1,000 in monthly rent would see that go up to $1,040.

That number could go as high as $1,066 depending on factors that are specific to that rental unit, such as an increase in municipal taxes and costly renovations that have been carried out.

WATCH | How a Montreal-area group is helping tenants learn about their rights:

West Island group offers workshops as tenants prepare to face rent increase

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Lily Martin, community organizer at the West Island Tenant's Action Committee, says the West Island is not "untouched" by the housing crisis. This time of the year is particularly busy for her group because tenants are starting to receive their rent-increase notices. There are free workshops to help them understand their rights and responsibilities, how a legal rent increase is calculated and what a fair rent increase is.

Groups for tenants, landlords both unhappy

In Quebec, atenant is allowed to refuse a rent increase from a landlord.

If the two parties cannot agree on a number, the landlord can file an application with the TAL to modify the lease within a month ofreceiving the tenant's reply.

When taking capital expenditures into account, the TAL granted an increase of 4.6 per cent on average in the cases that were brought before it in 2023.

Cdric Dussault, a spokesperson for theRegroupement des comits logement et associations de locataires du Qubec(RCLALQ), which is a tenants' right group in the province, said the calculations released by the TAL spell bad news for renters.

"Right now, tenants do not have a lot of power of negotiation with their landlords," he said.

"When they are facing pressures such as harassment and also threats of being evicted, they tend to accept raises that are really unacceptable."

Dussault says many tenants are already paying more in rent than they can afford and it's taking a toll on their mental health.

A group representing landlords says the housing tribunal's calculations do not take into account the expenses landlords have to manage, including rising interest rates.

"The way that theTribunal administratif du logement is calculating things is not adequate. It has to be revisited," said MartinMessier, the president of the Association des propritaires du Qubec (APQ).

He said repairs are expensive, and a rent increase that follows the TAL's guidelines meansit would take decades before getting a return on that investment.

He also said he understands that some tenants are in difficult situations.

"We need the the money to invest properly and to keep the building in good condition," Messier said.

"On the other side, we understand there are tenants for which is going to be difficult and we need as a society to help them not to ask for the landlord to do that on their own."

WATCH | A breakdown of your rights as a tenant in Quebec:

What are my rights as a renter in Quebec?

2 years ago

Duration 7:46

We cut through the legalese to bring you answers to questions you may not even know you should be asking. Can my landlord kick me out for renovations? Does my landlord have to show me the previous tenants rent? Are rent decreases possible? While Quebec has rules for protecting renters, tenants have to be pretty savvy to wade through misinformation, bureaucracy and language barriers when learning about the law.