Fall sitting sees update of 30-year-old tenancy law in P.E.I.

After 18 days of debate, the fall sitting of the P.E.I. legislature came to a close Thursday.

Among the 21 bills to receive royal assent from Lt.-Gov. Antoinette Perry was the Residential Tenancy Act, a rewrite of the province's 30-year-old law governing residential rentals in the province.

Work on the law was begun under the previous Liberal government of Wade MacLauchlan.

The final version of the bill included amendments put forward by both opposition parties, some of which were incorporated into government's draft of the bill before it was tabled, others which were incorporated during debate.

The law will cap the maximum allowable rental increase in the province at three per cent per year, with a further three per cent cap for landlords who apply for a larger increase through the Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission.

An amendment from the Green Party extended a moratorium on evictions for renovations into 2023, while a Liberal amendment to the bill will allow tenants to break a lease agreement if they're victims of racism, after filing a complaint with the Human Rights Commission.

A Green amendment which would have made it illegal for landlords to ban pets in their units was defeated.

On the day the bill was passed, Nov. 25, Minister of Social Development and Housing Matthew MacKay said work would begin "immediately" on regulations required to be drafted before the new law can be brought into force.

"There'll be some consultations done with some of the regulations, so that will take a bit of time… early spring it should be ready," said MacKay.

Another housing bill tabled by MacKay, setting the maximum allowable rent increase for 2023 at zero per cent, came into effect on receiving royal assent from the lieutenant-governor on Thursday.

That bill overrides a ruling from the Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission setting the maximum allowable rent increase for 2023 as high as 10.8 per cent for units that include oil heat, 5.2 per cent otherwise.

MacKay promised a funding package to compensate landlords for the change, but no details were released during the sitting. MacKay said Thursday the package was awaiting approval from the province's Treasury Board, of which he is a member. 

A bill to remove doctor complements in the province along with the committee that oversees them drew condemnation from both opposition parties without ever being called for debate.

Health Minister Ernie Hudson said on Tuesday he would bring the bill back for the spring sitting with changes, acknowledging concerns over how removing doctor complements could affect rural health care.