Here is the rent increase Quebec tenants should expect in 2024
CBC
Most tenants in Quebec should get ready for another hike in rent costs, after the province's housing tribunal released its latest rent-increase guidelines for landlords.
Each year, the Tribunal administratif du logement (TAL) releases a set of calculations landlords can use before sending a notice of rent increase to a tenant. Those calculations are based on landlords' expenses for a particular dwelling.
According to the latest guidelines, which were released on Tuesday, tenants living in homes where heat is electric or is not included in the rent should see their rent increase by an average of four per cent, compared to 2.3 per cent last year.
For rental homes where gas heating is included in the rent, the increase is 3.3 per cent — for oil, it is 1.6 per cent. The increases in percentages for those types of homes is significantly lower than last year's.
In the case of homes that are unheated or heated by electricity, a four per cent increase would mean that someone currently paying $1,000 in monthly rent would see that go up to $1,040.
That number could go as high as $1,066 depending on factors that are specific to that rental unit, such as an increase in municipal taxes and costly renovations that have been carried out.
In Quebec, a tenant is allowed to refuse a rent increase from a landlord.
If the two parties cannot agree on a number, the landlord can file an application with the TAL to modify the lease within a month of receiving the tenant's reply.
When taking capital expenditures into account, the TAL granted an increase of 4.6 per cent on average in the cases that were brought before it in 2023.
Cédric Dussault, a spokesperson for the Regroupement des comités logement et associations de locataires du Québec (RCLALQ), which is a tenants' right group in the province, said the calculations released by the TAL spell bad news for renters.
"Right now, tenants do not have a lot of power of negotiation with their landlords," he said.
"When they are facing pressures such as harassment and also threats of being evicted, they tend to accept raises that are really unacceptable."
Dussault says many tenants are already paying more in rent than they can afford and it's taking a toll on their mental health.
A group representing landlords says the housing tribunal's calculations do not take into account the expenses landlords have to manage, including rising interest rates.
Julieth Torres remembers the thrill of pitching in at her grandmother's catering business, seeing people's faces light up as they took bites of the lovingly prepared food.
Like a crown on the hill, Pincher Creek’s Lebel Mansion brings a sense of history and warmth to the skyline above downtown.
The United States' capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, along with his wife, is an event worth celebrating for one Venezuelan refugee living in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Interveners in Halifax Water’s rate case are telling the regulatory board that the utility’s new proposal, which would cut its initial request by nearly half, is still inordinately high.
From the wintry symbol of a red northern cardinal to the rare New Brunswick sighting of a painted bunting, birds were the top subjects of this week's Your Lens submissions.
Fields of wheat are a staple in the landscape of Manitoba’s prairies, but this year many farmers plan to grow alternative crops.
Abel Charles throws on a pair of headphones and pulls his radio studio microphone closer to his face.
A new study by biologists at the University of Victoria has revealed why the simple back-and-forth motion of drift logs on B.C. beaches has destroyed critical ecosystems that keep the ocean healthy.
According to Niagara native, Lindsay Davies, the complaint that Ontario is a boring province when it comes to outdoor adventures is just plain wrong.
As of Jan. 1, most job postings in Ontario need to include salary figures, carbon monoxide alarms need to be on every level of a home and municipalities are now out of the recycling business.
Hundreds of medical school graduates, donning their hard-earned white coats, start their residencies every summer, during which they take on at least a few more years of training in a specialized field, like surgery or pediatrics, before they're licensed to practise.
Unreserved spoke to many acclaimed Indigenous authors in 2025. Each shared a few lessons that help them navigate life’s challenges and joys.
If you thought December seemed colder and snowier than usual, you're right.