The evictions and rent arrears landscape across Canada

Rent

• Annual rent increases were frozen until June 15, 2020.

• Landlords and tenants had been encouraged to develop payment plans. However, landlords were not required to demonstrate that a payment plan had been made before they filed an application to terminate a tenancy due to non-payment of rent.
• For CERB recipients, other provincial financial assistance (i.e. income or disability benefits) was partially cut off or clawed back dollar-for-dollar in the amount the recipients received from CERB payments.

Rent Arrears

• At the end of 2020, the total amount of rent arrears across Alberta was approximately $12.32 million.

Evictions

• A ban on residential evictions ended on April 30, 2020.

• During the first eight months of the pandemic (March to October 2020), there were 4,287 eviction applications filed for non-payment of rent. In 2019, over the same period, there were 5,351 applications.

• The Calgary Housing Company, providing housing to low- and moderate- income Calgarians in need of non-market rental housing, issued 500 eviction notices in the month of August 2020 alone.

Rent

• Annual rent increases are frozen until December 31, 2021.

• The BC Temporary Rental Supplement Program, a rent payment benefit, was in place from April to August 31, 2020 for more than 87,000 low- and moderate-income renters who lost income as a result of COVID-19. A benefit of $300-$500 per month was paid directly to landlords once tenants applied for the program and the details were verified with their landlord.
• Tenants have until July 10, 2021 to pay unpaid rent as long as repayments are made in equal installments, and on a monthly basis.
• The BC Rent Bank and various Metro Vancouver rent bank partners provided rent relief through the Reaching Home Grant. Applications were accepted until March 31, 2021.

Rent Arrears

• Approximately 90,000 rental households (15% of the total renter population) had not paid their full rent as of November 2020.

• As of August 2020, 12% of tenants had been making partial rent payments.
• At the end of 2020, the total amount of rent arrears across the British Columbia was approximately $7.73 million.

Evictions

• A ban on residential evictions for the non-payment of rent ended on August 18, 2020.

Rent

• Annual rent increases were frozen until September 30, 2020 and late fees were prohibited for failure to pay rent during that time.

• The Rent Assist benefit is available to low-income residents who rent accommodations in the private market and did not receive employment or income assistance.
• For CERB recipients, other provincial financial assistance (i.e. income or disability benefits) was partially cut off or clawed back dollar-for-dollar in the amount they received from CERB payments.

Rent Arrears

• As of September 2020, between 5,456 to 7,882 tenants in Manitoba were in arrears among a total of 60,629 renter households.
• At the end of 2020, the total amount of rent arrears across Manitoba was approximately $3.25 million.

Evictions

• Manitoba’s ban on residential evictions for non-payment of rent ended on September 30, 2020.

• From January until March 2020, when non-urgent eviction hearings were suspended due to COVID-19, there were 143 hearings for non-payment of rent scheduled or waiting to be scheduled in Manitoba.

• Residential Tenancies Commission postponed all non-urgent hearings. Tenants could not be evicted unless there was a risk to health and safety or concerns about illegal activity: https://www.gov.mb.ca/covid19/protection/mpp.html

Rent

• There has been no freeze on annual rent increases, and no rent relief measures have been put in place.
• The Residential Tenancies Act does not regulate annual rent increases as long as the landlord provides three months’ notice, which have resulted in huge rent hikes in the province.
• Workers who lost their job or income as a result of the pandemic were eligible to receive a one-time payment of $900 through the Workers Emergency Income Benefit.

Rent Arrears

• At the end of 2020, the total amount of rent arrears across New Brunswick was approximately $910,000.

Evictions

• A residential eviction ban was in place from March 19 to May 31, 2020, and there have been no additional bans since then.
• 1,525 requests for eviction had been filed in the first 10 months of 2020, down from a total of 2,518 requests in 2019. However, because evictions were paused between March 19 to May 31, 2020, the 1,525 figure covers only 7 months during which landlords could request an eviction.

Rent

• There has been no freeze on annual rent increases, and no rent relief measures have been put in place.

Rent Arrears

• At the end of 2020, the total amount of rent arrears across Newfoundland was approximately $100,000.

Evictions

An eviction ban was lifted on May 31, 2020. Tenants who have lost income because of the pandemic and have been evicted as a result of rental arrears can receive a 30-day extension on their eviction termination period from the date a notice of eviction was served to the tenant.

Rent

• There has been no freeze on annual rent increases.
• Up to $500 per month was available for tenants living in the private rental market up until August 31, 2020 through the Transitional Rent Supplement Program (TRSP).
• Beginning February 1, 2021, landlords and tenants have one year to enter into a repayment plan to ensure tenants have a reasonable amount of time to repay any owed rent that has accumulated between March 18, 2020 to January 31, 2021. Tenants will have at least 12 months to repay any overdue rent.

Rent Arrears

• There is no data available on the amount of rental arrears in the Northwest Territories.

Evictions

• A temporary ban on evictions was put in place on April 15, 2020, allowing tenants to defer rent until they recovered their income, as well as new repayment plan measures.

Rent

• A 2% cap on annual rental increases for existing tenants is in place until February 1, 2022, or until the state of emergency is lifted, whichever comes first.
• People receiving income assistance receive an extra $50 per payment during the pandemic to help with their housing costs.

Rent Arrears

• There is no data available on the total amount of rental arrears in Nova Scotia.

Evictions

• A ban on evictions for the purpose of renovations (also known as “renovictions”) is in place until February 1, 2022, or until the state of emergency is lifted, whichever comes first.

• A ban on all other residential evictions ended on June 30, 2020.

• An estimated 1,800 eviction applications had been filed one week before the ban on evictions was lifted, and another 343 evictions notices were filed between June 30 to August 14, 2020.

There is no data available on rental arrears or evictions in Nunavut, and there have been no announcements made by the Nunavut government concerning changes to rent or evictions during the pandemic.

Rent

• No rent relief measures have been put in place.
• Annual rent increases are frozen at 2020 levels until December 31, 2021; however, annual rent increases are still allowed for new tenants, and other above-guideline increases are also permitted.
• For CERB recipients, other provincial financial assistance (i.e. income or disability benefits) was partially cut off or clawed back dollar-for-dollar in the amount they received from CERB payments.

Rent Arrears

• At the end of 2020, the total amount of rent arrears across Ontario was approximately $87.25 million.

Evictions

• A ban on evictions was lifted on July 31, 2020, and subsequent pauses were put in place during stay-at-home orders in January 2021, and April 2021.

• Between March and July 2020, the Landlord and Tenant Board received over 6,000 eviction applications for non-payment of rent.

• The Landlord and Tenant Board moved to virtual eviction hearings in August 2020. An estimated 7,000 people faced eviction during the 2020-2021 winter.

Rent

• There has been no freeze on annual rent increases. The maximum rent increase for 2021 is 1%, which is slightly lower than previous years (1.3% in 2020; 1.5-2% in 2019).
• A Temporary Rental Assistance Benefit totalling $1,000,000 was available to renters who lost income due to the pandemic.

Rent Arrears

• There is no data available on the total amount of rental arrears in Prince Edward Island.

Evictions

• A moratorium on residential evictions was in place until June 15, 2020.

• 531 dispute hearings were held between 2019-2020, which is a 54% increase from the previous year. Of this total, 123 were eviction hearings, and 46 were concerning rent increases.

Rent

• In May 2020, at least 15% of Montreal tenants were a week (or more) late in paying their rent.

• Bill 696 was introduced on February 10, 2021 which proposes to freeze rent for a year, from June 2021 to May 2022. As of April 2021, the Bill was currently going through the stages for consideration by the National Assembly of Québec.

• A financial assistance program was available until July 15, 2020, for tenants who lost their job or income due to the pandemic.

• A financial assistance program for temporary accommodation was available until July 2020 for individuals whose plans to move were delayed due to the pandemic.
• For CERB recipients, other provincial financial assistance (i.e. income or disability benefits) was partially cut off or clawed back dollar-for-dollar in the amount they received from CERB payments.

Rent Arrears

• At the end of 2020, the total amount of rent arrears across Quebec was approximately $38.82 million.

Evictions

• A ban on residential evictions ended on July 20, 2020.

• Over 6,000 eviction applications for non-payment of rent had been filed by July 2020.

Rent

• There has been no freeze on annual rent increases.
• The Saskatchewan Housing Benefit was available to renters based on their household composition.
• For CERB recipients, other provincial financial assistance (i.e. income or disability benefits) was partially cut off or clawed back dollar-for-dollar in the amount they received from CERB payments.

Rent Arrears

• At the end of 2020, the total amount of rent arrears across Saskatchewan was approximately $1.11 million.

Evictions

• A ban on residential evictions was in place until August 4, 2020.

• Between August and November 2020, landlords had filed over 1,000 eviction applications.

Rent

• There has been no freeze on annual rent increases.
• The COVID-19 Rent Assist program was available to renters in 2020, but applications have now closed.
• The Canada-Yukon Housing Benefit program is available for renters.

Rent Arrears

• There is no data available on the total amount of rental arrears in Yukon.

Evictions

• A ban on residential evictions due to pandemic-related non-payment of rent was in place until December 31, 2020.