Each year Ontario publishes a single percentage that caps how much most landlords may raise a sitting tenant's rent over 12 months without Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) approval. That is the rent increase guideline; the authority for it is s. 120 of the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 (RTA). For 2027 it is 1.9%; for 2026 it was 2.1%. This page explains the formula, lists earlier years, names the exempt units, and walks through N1 timing. Landlords can use it to plan; tenants can use it to check a notice they received.

Quick summary

Topic The rule
Guideline, 2027 1.9%
Guideline, 2026 2.1%
Statutory ceiling on the guideline 2.5%, per s. 120(2)
Frequency A single raise in any 12 months, per s. 119
Notice Written, on an LTB form, a minimum of 90 days ahead, per s. 116
Which notice N1 in most cases; N2 where the limits do not apply; N3 in care homes
Biggest exemption Units in buildings first lived in after November 15, 2018 (s. 6.1)
Going higher A signed N10, or the Board's approval through an L5

Where the number comes from

Inflation drives it, under s. 120(2). Take the Ontario Consumer Price Index, measure the change from one year to the next, average it over the 12 months that end in May of the year before, and round to one decimal. Whatever the math produces, the result cannot top 2.5%. Publication in The Ontario Gazette is due by August 31 of the year before (s. 120(3)); the housing ministry then adds it to the province's residential rent increases page.

Which year's figure applies? The year the new rent takes effect, not the year the notice is served. Example: a tenancy began March 1, 2026 at $2,300 a month. On March 1, 2027 the rent can rise by the 2027 guideline of 1.9%, which is $43.70, for a new rent of $2,343.70.

The figures by year

Year Guideline Note
2012 3.1% Set before the 2.5% ceiling existed
2013 2.5% At the ceiling
2014 0.8%
2015 1.6%
2016 2.0%
2017 1.5%
2018 1.8%
2019 1.8%
2020 2.2%
2021 0% Frozen by statute; the formula would have given 1.5%
2022 1.2%
2023 2.5% At the ceiling
2024 2.5% At the ceiling
2025 2.5% At the ceiling
2026 2.1%
2027 1.9% Current year

Ontario's page goes all the way back to 1991. The Act itself imposes the 2021 freeze (s. 120(3.1)). The 2.5% ceiling entered s. 120 through S.O. 2012, c. 6, which is why the 2012 figure of 3.1% could exceed it.

Who is covered

It reaches nearly every private rental the RTA governs, whether a house, an apartment, a condo, a basement suite, a mobile home or a land lease home, as well as the rent (not care) portion of a care home bill. The guideline restricts increases for the tenant already living there and for anyone who takes over the tenancy by assignment (s. 120(1)).

Not covered:

  • A new tenant's starting rent. Under s. 113, a new tenant's lawful rent is the first rent charged, so on turnover the landlord and incoming tenant simply agree a figure.
  • Section 6.1 units. The first test: was any part of the building (or park, or land lease community), or the addition holding the unit, residentially occupied on or before November 15, 2018? If not, the unit escapes both the guideline and the above-guideline rules. A second test covers some newly added units in houses (detached, semi or row) that held at most two units on that date. The new unit must have been completed after November 15, 2018, and must either occupy formerly unfinished space or have been first occupied while an owner lived elsewhere in the house. Tenancies agreed on or before November 15, 2018 get neither exemption (s. 6.1(4)).
  • Social housing: community housing, rent-geared-to-income units and long-term care homes follow separate rules.

If challenged, the landlord bears the burden of proof. Ontario's advice: hold on to permits (building and occupancy), plans, new home warranty records, builder and contractor invoices and photos from before and after, and write the exemption into the standard lease's additional terms section.

For tenants checking an increase

Ask: does the guideline cover my unit (or was the building first lived in after November 15, 2018)? Is the increase at or below the guideline for the year it takes effect? Was I given 90 days' written notice on an LTB form, and has a year passed since my last increase? If the answer to any of these is wrong, the increase may be unlawful. Keep in mind the one-year window under s. 136, explained below.

Rules every increase must meet

These apply even where there is no cap on the amount.

A year between increases (s. 119). The gap since the previous raise, or since move-in, must be 12 months or longer. After an assignment within that window, the clock runs from the assignor's last raise.

Ninety days in writing (s. 116). The notice has to be on the LTB's approved form and show the new rent. An increase made without proper notice is void, and a fresh notice is required (s. 116(4)).

The right form. The N1 is the default. The N3 covers care homes. The N2 is for units outside the rules that limit increases, and its instructions describe social and non-profit housing. Those N2 instructions predate s. 6.1 (they are from May 2017), and no LTB guidance says which notice suits a s. 6.1 unit, so ask the LTB before serving.

On its hearing-process page, the LTB confirms that a post-November 15, 2018 unit still needs 90 days' written notice on the proper form, though "there is no limit on the size of the rent increase."

Timing an increase with the N1

Step 1: set the effective date. A year or more past the previous raise (or move-in), usually the first day of a rental period.

Step 2: work back 90 days. The N1 must reach the tenant 90 days or more before that date.

Step 3: allow for delivery. Mail is deemed given five days after it is sent (s. 191(3)), so a mailed N1 goes out 95 days or more ahead.

Step 4: deliver it properly. Permitted methods under the N1 instructions: handing it to the tenant (or another adult there), the mailbox or usual mail spot, beneath the door or into the mail slot, courier, mail, fax. Taping it to the door is not one of them.

Step 5: do the math right. Apply the guideline for the effective year to the current lawful rent. On a covered unit, any amount over the guideline is not lawful.

Once the N1 is served, a tenant who stays rather than giving notice to leave is deemed to accept the increase the Act allows (s. 118). And under s. 136, an increase becomes lawful unless the tenant applies within a year of when it was first charged.

Raising rent above the guideline

A covered unit has two lawful paths.

Signed agreement (N10, s. 121). In exchange for particular capital work, or a service that is new or added, the tenant agrees to pay more than the guideline. The most it can be is the guideline plus 3% of the prior lawful rent. A written cancellation within five days of signing undoes it, and it cannot take effect until at least six days after signing. There is no N1 for this kind of increase.

Board order (L5, s. 126). Grounds: municipal taxes and charges that rose extraordinarily, eligible capital spending, or paying for security services from outside firms. In any 12-month period, the capital and security share tops out at 3% above the guideline; anything beyond rolls into the next two periods, again at no more than 3% each. The landlord must still serve an N1 at least 90 days out. More on the L5 page and under LTB filing fees.

Finally, s. 123 lets the parties agree to add a parking spot or some other prescribed service, with a prescribed rent increase that needs neither 90 days' notice nor a 12-month gap.

Interest on rent deposits. Annual interest is owed on the last month's rent deposit, using whatever guideline is in effect on the due date (s. 106(6)). In 2027, 1.9% of a $2,000 deposit is $38. That interest can be kept, in whole or in part, to bring the deposit up to the new rent (s. 106(7)).

Air conditioners. Since July 1, 2026, in units where electricity comes with the rent, landlords can add a seasonal charge when a tenant puts in a portable or window AC unit. Interpretation Guideline 11 has the details.

Common questions

What is Ontario's 2027 rent increase guideline?

It is 1.9%, according to the province's housing ministry, down from 2.1% in 2026.

Doesn't the 2.5% cap let landlords charge 2.5%?

No. The 2.5% limits how high the guideline can be set, not what a landlord can charge. On a covered unit, the increase is limited to the guideline for the effective year unless an N10 or an L5 order permits more.

A building that opened in 2020: does the guideline apply?

Probably not, if nobody lived in any part of it (or the addition) by November 15, 2018; s. 6.1 then exempts the unit. Notice still has to be 90 days, in writing, on the proper form, and increases are still limited to one a year.

What if the N1 was served too late?

Then s. 116(4) makes the increase void. A new notice with the full 90 days, and a later effective date, are needed.

Can rent go up between tenants?

Yes. Section 113 makes the first rent charged to the incoming tenant the lawful rent, unless an LTB order affecting the unit says otherwise.

Official sources