Bill 103, Keeping People Housed Act, 2026
Chamber
ontario
Stage
Introduced
This Ontario bill reinstates rent control for all rental units, creates a rent registry, and protects tenants from evictions for renovations.
Key Changes
- Removes the post-2018 rent control exemption, bringing all rental units under rent control rules
- Requires landlords to charge new tenants no more than the last lawful rent paid by the previous tenant (with limited exceptions)
- Creates a public Rent Registry maintained by the Landlord and Tenant Board, requiring landlords to file rent information within 30 days of signing a lease
- Requires landlords evicting tenants for renovations to provide engineering documentation and municipal approvals, and to offer a comparable unit or pay compensation
- Prohibits municipal approval of demolitions or conversions that eliminate six or more rental units unless units are replaced or rents exceed mid-range market rates
- Establishes a Rental Task Force to study above-guideline rent increases and report recommendations within six months
Gotchas
- Landlords who fail to file statements with the rent registry can have their applications to the Landlord and Tenant Board refused, stayed, or discontinued — this is a significant enforcement mechanism that could affect landlords' ability to pursue evictions or other remedies
- The rent registry information, including landlord names and rent amounts, will be made publicly available online, which raises privacy considerations for small landlords
- The bill allows the Board to share registry information with federal and provincial tax authorities, which could have tax compliance implications for landlords who may not have been reporting rental income accurately
- The compensation formula for tenants displaced during renovations (up to 15% above former rent or 30% above median market rent, whichever is greater) could be costly for landlords undertaking major repairs
- The exemption for demolitions where all units have rents exceeding 'mid-range rents' is not precisely defined in the bill text, which could lead to disputes about what qualifies
- The bill comes into force four months after Royal Assent, giving landlords and the Board a limited window to prepare for compliance, including building the rent registry system from scratch
Who's Affected
- Tenants in all Ontario rental units, especially those in buildings built after 2018 who were previously unprotected by rent control
- Landlords and property owners who must now register rent information and comply with new eviction documentation requirements
- Prospective tenants who will be able to look up the rental history of a unit before signing a lease
- Developers and property owners seeking to demolish or convert rental buildings with six or more units
- Municipalities across Ontario, which will face new restrictions on approving demolitions or conversions of rental housing
- The Landlord and Tenant Board, which must build and maintain the new rent registry
Vibes
0 responses
Gotchas
- Landlords who fail to file statements with the rent registry can have their applications to the Landlord and Tenant Board refused, stayed, or discontinued — this is a significant enforcement mechanism that could affect landlords' ability to pursue evictions or other remedies
- The rent registry information, including landlord names and rent amounts, will be made publicly available online, which raises privacy considerations for small landlords
- The bill allows the Board to share registry information with federal and provincial tax authorities, which could have tax compliance implications for landlords who may not have been reporting rental income accurately
- The compensation formula for tenants displaced during renovations (up to 15% above former rent or 30% above median market rent, whichever is greater) could be costly for landlords undertaking major repairs
- The exemption for demolitions where all units have rents exceeding 'mid-range rents' is not precisely defined in the bill text, which could lead to disputes about what qualifies
- The bill comes into force four months after Royal Assent, giving landlords and the Board a limited window to prepare for compliance, including building the rent registry system from scratch
Summary
Bill 103, the Keeping People Housed Act, 2026, makes several major changes to how rental housing is regulated in Ontario. Most significantly, it removes the exemption from rent control that was given to rental units first occupied after November 15, 2018, meaning all rental units would now be subject to rent control rules. It also introduces a rent registry — a public database maintained by the Landlord and Tenant Board — where landlords must record what rent they charge, making it harder to charge new tenants more than what the previous tenant paid. The bill also strengthens protections for tenants facing eviction for renovations or demolitions. Landlords must now provide proof of necessary approvals and engineering documentation before evicting a tenant for repairs, and must either offer the tenant a comparable unit during renovations or pay compensation. For demolitions or conversions that would eliminate six or more rental units, municipalities cannot approve the project unless the units are replaced or the rents are already above mid-range market rates. The bill was introduced by MPP Aislinn Clancy and appears aimed at addressing housing affordability and tenant precarity in Ontario. It also creates a temporary Rental Task Force to study above-guideline rent increases and report recommendations to the government.
Automatically generated from bill text using Claude
Vibes
0 responses