Is renting houses a good investment?

Alberta has no limit on the amount of a rent increase: the Residential Tenancies Act does not control how much rent can be charged or increased, though the government notes the common law does not allow a landlord to effectively evict a tenant by an unfairly large increase. We found no provincial landlord licence or registry. Anyone other than the owner (or the owner's employee) who negotiates or approves a lease or collects rent must be a property manager licensed by the Real Estate Council of Alberta.

We found no rule requiring tenant insurance, and none stopping a landlord from requiring it in the lease; the government lists insurance requirements as a normal lease item.

The maximum annual rent increase is 2.3% for 2026 and 2.2% for 2027. It does not apply to commercial tenancies, non-profit housing where rent is geared to income, co-operative housing or some assisted-living facilities. We found no registry or licence for long-term residential landlords. Short-term rental hosts must register each unit with the provincial registry and follow local bylaws, such as holding a valid business licence if one applies.

No provincial law requires tenant insurance, but the government lists "tenant's insurance requirements" as an example of an additional term a tenancy agreement can include. Additional terms are generally binding if the tenant agrees and they do not contradict the Act, but an unclear or unfair term might not be enforceable.

The rent increase guideline is 1.8% for 2026 and 3.0% for 2027 (effective January 1, 2027). Exempt are units renting for $1,670 or more per month in 2026 and $2,000 or more from 2027, buildings first occupied after March 2005 (the exemption lasts 20 years, so a building occupied in 2005 or 2006 may already have lost it), and various types of social housing. We found no provincial landlord registration or licence.

No law requires tenant insurance. The Residential Tenancies Branch says a landlord generally cannot insist that a tenant carry liability insurance as a condition of tenancy, although it may be reasonable in certain circumstances, such as a tenant with a waterbed, a large aquarium or a portable washer.

We found no cap or guideline on the amount of a rent increase. The Act's rent increase provisions deal with timing and notice, not the amount. There is no provincial landlord registry or licence that we found. One filing duty applies to out-of-province landlords: a landlord who does not live in Saskatchewan and has no office there must file a power of attorney with the Office of Residential Tenancies director before carrying on business, naming a Saskatchewan resident to receive notices and applications.

We found no rule on tenant insurance, either requiring it or allowing a landlord to require it, so ask the Office of Residential Tenancies before putting an insurance clause in a lease.

The 2026 rent increase guideline is 2.1%, and the announced 2027 guideline is 1.9%. Exempt are units first occupied for residential purposes after November 15, 2018 (a landlord should be ready to prove this if it is disputed), units on turnover when a new tenant agrees the rent, community housing, long-term care and commercial premises. We found no provincial landlord licence or registry. In Toronto, owners of apartment buildings with three or more storeys and ten or more units must register under RentSafeTO and renew each year, and multi-tenant (rooming) house operators need a City licence.

No Ontario law requires tenant insurance. The standard lease lets the landlord and tenant agree that the tenant must have liability insurance, and if the landlord asks for proof the tenant must provide it. Contents insurance is up to the tenant.

New Brunswick has a hard legal cap: a landlord may not increase rent by more than 3% unless a Residential Tenancies Officer approves a higher increase (up to 9%) for capital expenditures on renovations. The government confirmed on June 24, 2026 that the cap stays at 3% for the 2027 calendar year, with the next review in May 2027. We found no landlord registry or licence. One cost to check: an owner who is not entitled to the residential property tax credit pays a residential tenancy administration fee each year to the Minister of Finance and Treasury Board.

No law requires tenant insurance. The government says a landlord may ask for proof of insurance as a condition of renting.

A 5% yearly cap applies to rent increases for an existing tenant in calendar 2026 and again in 2027. It is measured against what the tenant was legally required to pay in the previous 12 months and also applies if you sign a new fixed-term lease with the same tenant in the same unit. It does not apply to public housing where rent changes only because the tenant's income changed, or to land-lease communities that follow their own rules. The cap legislation expires after December 31, 2027.

We found no provincial registration for long-term landlords (short-term rental hosts must register). In the Halifax Regional Municipality, By-law R-400 requires rental housing to be registered (we could not confirm the city's current registry page), with owner and operator information, proof of insurance and any fee the municipality sets. A landlord may ask tenants to carry insurance through the landlord rules; no law requires it.

The Director of Residential Tenancy sets an allowable annual rent increase that cannot exceed 3% a year. It is 2% for 2026 and 2.1% for 2027 (effective January 1, 2027), on all rental units, heated or unheated, including mobile home sites. We found no exemption for new buildings or high rents on the Rental Office pages. We found no licence or registry for ordinary long-term rentals. Stays of less than one month must be licensed as a tourism property, and Charlottetown operators also need a municipal short-term rental licence.

We found no rule requiring tenant insurance or saying whether a landlord may require it in the lease.

The government's landlord and tenant guide says there is no restriction on the amount of a rental increase, and we found no cap or guideline announcement for 2026 or 2027. We found no provincial landlord registration or licence.

No law requires tenant insurance. The Residential Tenancies Office says it is generally not unreasonable for a landlord to require a tenant to hold insurance for the tenant's personal property, and the guide lists "tenant to maintain tenant insurance" as an example of an additional term. The landlord remains responsible for insuring the building and the landlord's own property.