Rent freeze requested at rent-controlled housing

The provincial NDP is looking for help to those who live in rent-controlled homes in Ontario.

Housing critic Jessica Bell proposes a two-year freeze on rent increases.

She says it would help people get through the current economic conditions and the high cost of living.

“Many Ontarians are struggling,” says Bell.

“We have record-high unemployment. We have very high youth unemployment. We have a lot of people looking for a job at a time when bills, groceries, mortgage costs, and rent have never been more expensive.”

Bell says a survey of renters found many forego buying groceries, meals, even medications, to save up for their rent.

Others have exhausted savings and worry about retirement.

Bell adds that the average rent in Ontario has increased more than 50% in the past decade.

“We don’t expect miracles from the Conservative government,” says Bell.

“We understand we have the Trump tariff war, we have the crisis in the Middle East, but I think every Ontarian out there expects the Ontario government to use every single legal tool or regulatory tool that they have got to make life more affordable for people.”

The Ford government has only once stalled rent increases since they came to power.

That happened during the COVID pandemic in 2021.

In other years, landlords of rent-controlled housing have been given the green light to increases that are near or at the allowable limit.

Bell says a two-year freeze would provide immediate stability and savings for up to 1.5 million renters.

“For someone paying $2,000 a month, it’ll save them about $600 a year and $1,200 over the two years. That’s not chump change,” says Bell.

The province is to announce in June how much landlords can increase the rent on all rent-controlled homes across Ontario.

MPPs are expected to vote on Bell’s request on Thursday.