How much can a landlord increase rent?

Only after the waiting period has passed and with written notice. In most provinces rent can go up once every 12 months, and not in the first 12 months of the tenancy; most Saskatchewan landlords must wait 18 months for the first increase. The notice must reach the tenant ahead of time: 3 months in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba and PEI, 90 days in Ontario, 4 months in Nova Scotia, 6 months in New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador, and 12 months in Saskatchewan (6 for members of a prescribed landlord association).

Check four things before you serve anything:

1. Enough time has passed since the tenancy started or since the last increase (usually 12 months).
2. The amount is within your province's limit, if it has one.
3. You are giving at least the required notice.
4. You are using the right form where one is required, such as RTB-7 in British Columbia, the N1 in Ontario or Form 8 in PEI.

Serve the notice in writing on each tenant named on the lease and keep proof of how and when you served it. In Alberta a notice that misses a rule is void, and in Saskatchewan the increase is pushed back to the earliest date the rules allow.

Once every 12 months in every province on this page, with one exception. In Saskatchewan, a landlord who belongs to a prescribed landlord association can raise rent every 6 months once the first increase is allowed. Alberta counts the gap as 365 days from the last increase or the start of the tenancy, whichever is later.

Landlords usually raise rent to keep up with costs such as property tax, insurance, utilities, repairs and mortgage interest. In provinces with a yearly limit, an increase within the limit needs no reason beyond proper notice. Going above the limit is different: the landlord needs approval from the province's tenancy office, or in British Columbia and Ontario the tenant's written agreement. Nova Scotia has no route above its 5% cap for an ordinary rental.

First check the notice: when it was served, the amount, the date it takes effect and, where required, the form. A notice that breaks the rules may be void or may take effect later. Your options then depend on the province:

• New Brunswick: ask for a review within 60 days at no cost, or end the tenancy on one month's notice.
• PEI: treat the increase notice as a notice to end the tenancy, by telling the landlord at least one month before the increase takes effect.
• Manitoba: when an increase above the guideline is involved, end the tenancy on two full rental payment periods' notice.
• Alberta: if you do not give notice to end the tenancy, you are treated as accepting the increase.

In any province covered here, the tenancy office can tell you whether the notice is valid.

For a month-to-month tenancy: 3 tenancy months in Alberta, 3 full months in British Columbia, 3 months in Manitoba and PEI, 90 days in Ontario, 4 months in Nova Scotia, 6 months in New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador, and 12 months in Saskatchewan (6 for members of a prescribed landlord association). Weekly tenancies have their own periods in some provinces, such as 12 tenancy weeks in Alberta, 8 weeks in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador, and 3 weeks in PEI.

No. Every province requires written notice before rent goes up, and the new amount applies only from the date a valid notice allows. If the notice is missing or too short, Alberta treats it as void, Saskatchewan moves the increase to the earliest date the rules allow, and New Brunswick treats anything above 3% as 3%. Until a valid notice takes effect, the old rent stays in place.

Yes, once the first year has passed (18 months for most Saskatchewan landlords) and as long as the landlord gives proper notice. In British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and PEI the yearly increase has to stay within the limit. Alberta, Saskatchewan and Newfoundland and Labrador set no limit on the amount, though Alberta's government notes that a landlord cannot use an unfairly large increase to force a tenant out.

Costs such as property tax, insurance, maintenance and interest tend to rise each year, and many landlords raise rent to keep pace. In provinces with a limit, the government sets the yearly figure; British Columbia, for example, bases its cap on BC's inflation rate. A landlord does not have to raise rent at all, and some keep it flat to hold on to a good tenant.

Multiply your monthly rent by your province's limit. On $1,800 a month, British Columbia's 2.3% limit for 2026 allows up to $41.40 more, Ontario's 2.1% guideline allows up to $37.80, and Nova Scotia's 5% cap allows up to $90. In Alberta, Saskatchewan and Newfoundland and Labrador there is no limit on the amount, only on timing and notice.

It depends on the province and on what the lease says:

• Alberta and Newfoundland and Labrador: not during a fixed term.
• Saskatchewan: only if the amount and timing were agreed when the lease was signed.
• Nova Scotia: only if the lease states the amounts and dates.
• PEI: the 3-month notice on Form 8 applies to fixed-term tenancies too.
• British Columbia: signing a new fixed-term lease does not let the landlord go above the yearly cap.

The waiting period and the notice period still apply in every province covered here.

For 2026: 2.3% in British Columbia, 1.8% in Manitoba, 2.1% in Ontario, 3% in New Brunswick, 5% in Nova Scotia and 2% in PEI. For 2027: 2.2% in British Columbia, 3.0% in Manitoba, 1.9% in Ontario, 3% in New Brunswick, 5% in Nova Scotia and 2.1% in PEI. Alberta, Saskatchewan and Newfoundland and Labrador have no maximum. Some units are outside the limits, such as most Ontario units first lived in after November 15, 2018, and higher-rent units and newer buildings in Manitoba.

The yearly limits on this page apply to raising rent for a tenant who already lives in the unit. For a new tenant the rules differ: in Ontario the landlord and the new tenant agree on the rent when a tenancy turns over, in Nova Scotia the 5% cap is written for existing tenancies, in Alberta and Newfoundland and Labrador there is no limit on the amount at all, and in Saskatchewan we found no limit on the amount. PEI is different, because its Rental Office says rent cannot be raised automatically between tenants. For British Columbia, Manitoba and New Brunswick we found no rule on the starting rent for a new tenant, so ask the tenancy office, and use SQRFT's own rent estimator to see what a similar place should rent for.

The rules we reviewed describe what the landlord must do, not a sign-off from the tenant, for an increase that stays within the limit: written notice, the waiting period and the set form where one is required, and in British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and PEI the yearly limit in the table above. A notice that breaks the rules is void in Alberta, pushed back to the earliest allowed date in Saskatchewan and cut to 3% in New Brunswick. In Alberta, a tenant who does not give notice to end the tenancy is treated as accepting the increase.

Going above the limit needs more than a notice: the tenant's written agreement or an arbitrator's order in British Columbia, an application to the Residential Tenancies Branch in Manitoba, an L5 approval or a signed N10 agreement (up to 3% above the guideline) in Ontario, officer approval for capital renovations (up to 9%) in New Brunswick, and a Director's order on a Form 9 in PEI. For Nova Scotia we found no route above the cap for an ordinary rental. See can a landlord raise the rent anytime.