[40] Bill 19 Royal Assent (PDF)
Bill 19 2012
An Act to amend the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 in respect of the rent increase guideline
Note: This Act amends the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006. For the legislative history of the Act, see the Table of Consolidated Public Statutes – Detailed Legislative History at www.e-Laws.gov.on.ca.
Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:
1. Subsections 120 (2), (3), (4) and (5) of the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 are repealed and the following substituted:
Guideline
(2) The Minister shall determine the guideline in effect for each calendar year as follows:
1. Subject to the limitation set out in paragraph 2, the guideline for a calendar year is the percentage change from year to year in the Consumer Price Index for Ontario for prices of goods and services as reported monthly by Statistics Canada, averaged over the 12-month period that ends at the end of May of the previous calendar year, rounded to the first decimal point.
2. The guideline for a calendar year shall be not more than 2.5 per cent.
Publication of guideline
(3) The Minister shall have the guideline for each calendar year published in The Ontario Gazette not later than August 31 of the preceding year.
Transition
(4) The guideline for the calendar year in which the commencement date occurs is the guideline established for that year under this section as it read immediately before the commencement date.
Same
(5) If the commencement date occurs on or after September 1 in a calendar year, the guideline for the following calendar year is the guideline established for that year under this section as it read immediately before the commencement date.
Review by Minister
(6) The Minister shall initiate a review of the operation of this section within four years after the commencement date and thereafter within four years after the end of the previous review.
Definition
(7) In subsections (4), (5) and (6),
"commencement date" means the day section 1 of the Residential Tenancies Amendment Act (Rent Increase Guideline), 2012 comes into force.
Commencement
2. This Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.
Short title
3. The short title of this Act is the Residential Tenancies Amendment Act (Rent Increase Guideline), 2012.
EXPLANATORY NOTE
This Explanatory Note was written as a reader's aid to Bill 19 and does not form part of the law. Bill 19 has been enacted as Chapter 6 of the Statutes of Ontario, 2012.
Section 120 of the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 limits annual rent increases in accordance with a guideline which is linked to the Consumer Price Index for Ontario, reported by Statistics Canada. The section is amended to provide that the guideline shall not be more than 2.5 per cent.
The Bill also amends section 120 to require the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing to initiate reviews of the operation of the section at four-year intervals.