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Two tenants of a Winnipeg apartment complex facing a $500 rent increase after primarily cosmetic upgrades are handling the news differently, but both say the spike is unjustified.
Aidan Wilson has lived at the Maryland Street apartment since about 2022.
Wilson, who can recount the priceless memories he and his partner have experienced in the apartment over the years, says a 54 per cent increase after recent upgrades to the building’s common areas is unfair.
“Who, on any day, can just afford an immediate $500 increase in rent?” he told CBC News.
“It has us rethinking what our long-term goals are, and accelerat[ing] some of those and looking around.”
The upgrades include wobbly steps covered up with fresh carpet, a crooked deadbolt and new paint that is already peeling. Wilson showed the recent work to CBC News during a walkabout inside the building at 154 Maryland St., at the intersection with Alloway Avenue.
Wingspan Properties did not respond to CBC’s request for comment before publication.
Wilson was one of 94 people registered to speak at a committee hearing on Friday, where Manitoba MLAs heard about double-digit rent increases, and from landlords defending themselves.
The hearing was about Bill 13, the Residential Tenancies Amendment Act, which Public Service Delivery Minister Mintu Sandhu introduced earlier this year, calling it the “largest expansion to rent controls in decades.”
WATCH | Renters, landlords plead case to Manitoba MLAs:
Renters demand relief while Manitoba considers stricter controls
Residents of a Maryland Street apartment complex in Winnipeg are deciding whether to pay $500 more in rent, while the Manitoba government heard from the public Friday about proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act.
The proposed regulatory changes, which are separate from the bill, would raise the rent-exemption threshold from $1,670 to $2,000 for units in buildings 20 years old or older, Sandhu said. The guideline rent increase in Manitoba is currently 1.8 per cent, a number tied to inflation, but the exemption only covers renters paying less than $1,670 per month.
David Gurvey, CEO of S.A.M. Management, told the committee he’s worried about one proposed regulation that would minimize how much of a renovation’s cost a landlord can pass on to renters when applying for a rent increase above the annual cap.
Gurvey — whose non-profit corporation manages more than 60 properties in Winnipeg, including co-ops, family and Manitoba Housing units, and accommodations for seniors — told the committee not all landlords are the same.
“You have to deal with the bad actors, and not paint all the good actors with that same bad brush,” he said.
‘Doesn’t warrant any of the cost’
Sandhu wouldn’t say whether the proposed regulation Gurvey voiced concerns on will be enacted.
“I want to make sure [landlords] have a reasonable return on their investment. I’m committed also [to] affordability for the renters,” Sandhu told CBC News.
While Wilson is choosing to fight the rent increase at the Maryland Street apartment, Lloyd Burns is moving out.
“We’re just one of the whole heap of people that are going to be forced out because of Wingspan [Properties] and their practices,” Burns told CBC News, while in the middle of packing his belongings into a moving truck on Friday.
The management company did some work to the building’s boiler and security camera system, but Burns says the overall upgrades do not justify the rent increase.
“If you see the repairs they’ve done and the painting they’ve done, it’s so below standard, [and] it doesn’t warrant any of the cost.”