Protecting Tenants from Above-Guideline Increases During the COVID-19 Pandemic - by Councillor Brad Bradford, seconded by Councillor Paula Fletcher

The wording of this exemption may increase the possibility of landlords using a renovation to initiate an Above-Guideline increase, despite the freeze on rent increases planned for the time ahead. Despite the financial and health hardships many residents have been facing throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, I've heard from tenants of an older building in Ward 19, who have received notice of an Above-Guideline Rent Increase proposed to take effect in October. This is the second above-guideline increase tenants have received in the past five years - the first of which resulted in three years of extra increases in addition to the annual guideline amounts. While the age of the building provides exemption from general above-guideline increases to individual rents, this increase has still been possible under the landlord's repair and renovation projects. Requesting the Province to broaden the scope of Bill 204 is one measure that could help tenants to remain in their homes during these unprecedented times. Restricting Above-Guideline Rent Increases, either by preventing them or capping them in 2021 would provide greater protection to tenants. This Motion is urgent because Bill 204 has already received Second Reading within the Provincial Legislature and a decision on the Bill could be made by the Legislature imminently.