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Quebec’s housing tribunal is recommending a 3.1 per cent rent increase for apartments that have not undergone major renovations, a figure well below last year’s rate.
The Tribunal administratif du logement (TAL), whose earlier projected increase of 5.9 per cent drew widespread attention, unveiled the results of a new calculation method on Monday and revised its estimate downward for the remainder of the 2025–26 fiscal year.
For leases renewing April 1, 2026, or earlier, the TAL recommends that rents be allowed to rise by 4.5 per cent.
To arrive at the 3.1 per cent guideline — which landlords and tenants use as a reference point when negotiating rent increases — for leases renewing between April 2, 2026, and April 1, 2027, the tribunal relied on four indicators.
Its previous methodology used 13 indicators and was found to create distortions during periods of high inflation. Under the new calculation, the TAL takes into account variations in municipal and school taxes, as well as variations in insurance costs.
The TAL also factors in the average change in Quebec’s consumer price index over the past three years. The aim is to avoid sharp spikes in recommended increases when inflation rises suddenly, as it did in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.
For units that include services for tenants, such as seniors’ residences, the recommended increase is higher, at 6.7 per cent.
A new rent regulation that came into effect earlier this year also allows for a fixed annual rent increase of five per cent, applied over 20 years, to enable landlords to recover investments made in renovating a building.
While the 3.1 per cent recommendation is far less striking than the 5.9 per cent increase suggested for 2025 — the highest in 30 years — it remains a significant hike, the Regroupement des comités logement et associations de locataires du Québec (RCLALQ) warned in a statement.
The advocacy group noted that the increase is the third-largest in the past 20 years, behind only those recorded in 2024 and 2025. Without effective oversight, the rent increases actually sought by landlords are likely to be far higher than what regulations allow, said RCLALQ community organizer Steve Baird in the statement.
“You have rights: tenants can refuse the increase and stay in their home,” he said.
RCLALQ says it will continue its mobilization efforts in the coming months to make it clear to the government that tenants can no longer afford further increases and that stronger control measures must be put in place.
Meanwhile, the latest data from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation shows that the rent for a two-bedroom apartment in Montreal rose by 7.2 per cent in 2025, driven in part by tenant turnover.