By March 31 this year, many people in Quebec will receive a rent increase notice. But did you know that since January 1, 2026, there’s a new way of calculating rent increases? Here are the rules you and your landlord must respect.
If your landlord wants to increase your rent, they must generally send you a written notice 3 to 6 months before the end of your lease. If your landlord misses this deadline, they cannot increase the rent this year. In Quebec, residential leases often start on July 1st of each year and usually last 12 months.
This renewal notice must state the lease’s new conditions. It must also include a text established by regulation that states your three options to respond as a tenant and the deadline to respond. It must also mention your rights, obligations and recourses if you refuse the new conditions.
A new calculation method
Instead of using 12 criteria like before, the new method to calculate rent increases only uses five:
- the average Quebec Consumer Price Index (CPI) over the last three years,
- changes in municipal and school taxes,
- changes in fire and liability insurance payments,
- other expenses related to adding a service, accessory (like furniture) or dependency (like a pool or parking space),
- expenses for major repairs or renovations. A maximum of 5% of the costs can be added to the new rent.
The calculation method was changed by the government for many reasons, including the desire to simplify calculations, make rent increases more predictable, and encourage proper maintenance of rental housing.
As a result of this change, Quebec’s housing court, the Tribunal administratif du logement (TAL), will no longer publish an average recommended rent increase. Instead, it will publish the average Quebec Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the past three years. In 2026, the published average CPI is 3.1%. Landlords will have to base their rent increase calculations on this number.
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What’s the Consumer Price Index? The Consumer Price Index (CPI) measures how prices change over time for goods and services Canadians usually pay for, like food, transportation, housing, clothing, and health care. |
Accepting, refusing or moving out
If you don’t receive a rent increase notice by the deadline, your lease is automatically renewed under the same conditions. For example, if your current lease ends on June 30, 2026 and you don’t receive a notice by March 31, 2026, your lease will be renewed on July 1, 2026 under the same conditions.
However, if you do receive a rent increase notice, you have one month to act. You have three options:
- accept the increase and renew your lease,
- tell your landlord that you plan on moving at the end of your lease,
- refuse the increase and stay in your rental unit.
In some cases, even if you refuse the rent increase, you might still have to leave your place. That can be the case, for example, if you live in an apartment located in a housing co-op or in a building that has been used for rental housing for five years or less.
In case of refusal
If you don’t respond to the notice, the law considers you accept the new conditions. If you inform your landlord that you refuse the increase and want to stay in your rental unit, your landlord can set your rent by applying to Quebec’s housing court, called the Tribunal administratif du logement (TAL). You can check if the rent increase asked by your landlord is reasonable by using the TAL’s calculation tool (French only). You can also contact your local housing committee to make this calculation.