How to raise the rent in Ontario in 2026, step by step

01What the guideline actually is

Every year Ontario publishes one number. It is the most you can raise the rent by for most existing tenants, and it is called the rent increase guideline.

For increases that take effect during 2026, that number is 2.1%. For increases that take effect during 2027, it is 1.9%.

The number is worked out from the Consumer Price Index for Ontario. The law also puts a ceiling on it. It cannot be set above 2.5 per cent in any year, no matter what inflation does.

Here is the part that trips people up. The guideline that applies is the one for the year the new rent starts. Not the year you fill in the form. If you write a notice in November 2026 for an increase that begins in February 2027, you are on 1.9%.

02Three rules, and all three have to be true

A rent increase in Ontario is not one rule. It is three. Miss any one of them and the increase does not exist in law, whatever the tenant paid.

1. 1

   The amount is within the guideline

   For most units first occupied on or before November 15, 2018, the increase cannot be more than the guideline for the year it starts. You are always free to charge less, and many landlords do to keep someone who pays on time.

2. 2

   Ninety days of written notice on Form N1

   Section 116 of the Residential Tenancies Act says at least 90 days written notice, in a form approved by the Board. That form is the N1. A text message is not a notice. A letter is not a notice. An increase given without the proper notice is void, and you have to give a new notice before you can take it.

3. 3

   Twelve months since the last time

   Counted from the last increase, or from the day the tenancy started if there has not been one yet. Twelve months and a day is fine. Eleven months and 29 days is not.

03Working out one increase

Say your tenant, Priya, pays $2,100 a month. Her last increase took effect on January 1, 2026. You want to raise the rent again on January 1, 2027.

Twelve months will have passed, so that rule is satisfied. The new rent starts in 2027, so the guideline is 1.9%, not 2.1%. And you need the N1 in her hands 90 days before January 1.

Ninety days before January 1, 2027 is October 3, 2026. That is the last day you can hand it to her. If you mail it instead, add the five days first, so it has to go in the post by about September 28.

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What can you actually raise the rent to?

Three rules decide every Ontario rent increase: the guideline for the year the increase takes effect, 90 days of written notice on Form N1, and 12 months since the last increase. Miss any one of them and the increase is void.

Your tenancy

Current monthly rent$Last increase, or the day the tenancy startedWhichever came later.

How will you deliver the N1?

By handCourier (next business day)Mail (+5 days)

This unit was first occupied after November 15, 2018, so it is exempt from the guideline cap.

What the law allows

Put in the rent and the date of the last increase. You will get the maximum lawful rent, the earliest date it can take effect, and the day the notice has to be out the door.

General information about the Residential Tenancies Act, not legal advice. Confirm the guideline and the current N1 form with the Landlord and Tenant Board before you serve anything.

04Newer units are exempt from the number, not the rules

If the unit was occupied for the first time for residential purposes after November 15, 2018, the guideline percentage does not apply to it. That covers most new purpose-built rentals, most additions and a lot of newer basement apartments.

What still applies is everything else. Ninety days of written notice. Twelve months since the last increase. Landlords hear the word exempt, assume it means no rules at all, and serve increases that are perfectly reasonable in amount and still invalid on timing.

If a tenant ever disputes the exemption, you are the one who has to show when the unit was first lived in. Keep the occupancy permit, the first lease and the first rent receipt somewhere you can find them in five years.

05What to do this week

There is a rent increase calculator on this site under /resources/ontario-rent-increase-calculator that does the date arithmetic for you.

How TenantBay helps: it keeps the last increase date and the rent history on the tenancy, fills the N1 from those records, and tells you when the 90 day window opens instead of after it has closed.

• Write down, for every tenancy, the date of the last increase or the start of the tenancy. That single date decides when your next window opens.
• Count backwards 90 days from the date you want the new rent to start, then add five more days if you plan to mail the notice.
• Use the current N1 from the Landlord and Tenant Board forms page rather than a copy you saved two years ago.
• Keep proof of how and when you served it. A photo of the envelope, or a note of the date, time and method.
• Check the guideline for the year the new rent starts, not the year you are in.