Press Release
To protect tenants, Ontario is clarifying rules governing how the HST will affect above-guideline rent increases.
Under current regulations, a landlord could apply for an above-guideline rent increase based on the HST on utility costs.
A proposed change to the Residential Tenancies Act (RTA) would prevent tenants from being charged the HST in an above-guideline rent increase for utility costs.
As established by the RTA, landlords will continue to be eligible for annual rent increase guidelines based on the annual Consumer Price Index (CPI) increases.
The proposed regulations have been posted on the government’s website for 45 days to allow Ontarians to comment.
“Our aim is to protect tenants,” said Municipal Affairs and Housing minister Jim Bradley.
“The proposed changes would also be fair to landlords because they would see HST costs for utilities reflected in the annual rent increase guidelines, and in the rents they could set for new tenants when units become vacant,” he added.
“This initiative would protect tenants from unfair rent increases while maintaining the current rent increase guidelines based on the Consumer Price Index,” noted Adam Spence of the
Ontario Association of Food Banks.
It is estimated that Ontario’s comprehensive tax plan, including the introduction of the HST and tax cuts for business, will help create almost 600,000 new jobs within the next 10 years, while making Ontario more attractive for business investment.
Almost three million low-income Ontario families will receive a new, permanent sales tax credit of up to $260 for each adult and child per year—one of the most generous in Canada.
A new Ontario property tax credit will provide an additional $270 million in property tax relief every year to low- to middle- income Ontario homeowners and tenants.
The rent increase guideline for 2010 is 2.1 percent—the maximum amount by which a landlord can increase the rent of an existing tenant without seeking the approval of the Landlord and Tenant Board.
