TORONTO — Ontario’s Liberals are promising to reinstate rent control as it existed before the 2018 election if they form government.
Leader Steven Del Duca says the pledge is part of the housing plank of his party’s platform.
Before the Progressive Conservatives took power in 2018, landlords could only raise rent at a set rate each year during a lease, usually between 0.5 and 3 per cent.
That’s still in place for units built before 2018, but those created after are not subject to rent control.
Del Duca says the two-tiered system has made housing less affordable in the midst of a crisis, and his government would bring back the old system.
The NDP have promised to go even farther than the Liberals, preventing landlords from jacking up rent between leases.
They say that would remove the financial incentive for landlords to push out tenants so they can raise raise rent.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 13, 2022.
