Ontario has set the 2026 rent increase guideline at 2.1 per cent, making this the maximum annual increase that landlords can apply to most rent-controlled tenancies without approval from the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB). Since the overwhelming majority of post-secondary students in Niagara live off-campus — where many pay market rents in shared houses, student-oriented rentals or apartments — here is a breakdown of how the new guideline will, and won’t, affect off-campus students.
Under Ontario’s rent rules, a landlord who is raising rent within the guideline must generally provide at least 90 days’ written notice, and a minimum of 12 months must have passed since the last rent increase (or since a new tenant moved in). The LTB’s standard N1 form also explicitly distinguishes between increases that are within the guideline and those that require, or have received, LTB approval for an above guideline increase.
However, the guideline does not cap every rent increase in Ontario. Rental units first occupied for residential purposes after Nov. 15, 2018, are exempt from the rules that limit rent increases to the guideline amount.
Legal education resources summarizing this rule list exemptions that include newer buildings, additions first occupied after that date and some newly created self-contained units in houses. In units that are exempt, a landlord can increase rent by more than the guideline, though the timing and notice rules still apply.
Ontario’s rent-increase guideline is about in-tenancy increases. When a tenant first moves in, landlords can typically charge any rent amount the parties agree to, often referred to as “vacancy decontrol”.
A Niagara Region post-secondary student housing strategy estimates that in the 2023-24 year, Niagara had approximately 30,000 post-secondary students, with approximately eight per cent housed in on-campus or institutionally provided accommodations. The same report says that Brock’s on-campus housing was over 95 per cent full that year, noting that most students prefer on-campus housing in their first year before moving off campus in later years.
With only a small share living on campus, the report estimates 26,000+ post-secondary students in Niagara live across a variety of off-campus arrangements, including purpose-built student rentals, rented rooms in homes and multi-tenant houses.
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s (CMHC) October 2025 rental market survey data for St. Catharines and Niagara reports an overall apartment vacancy rate of 3.8 per cent and an average rent of $1,445. A 2.1 per cent guideline increase on an average rent of $1,445 would be about $30 per month (roughly $360 per year), if a tenant is in a rent-controlled unit and the landlord applies the maximum allowed increase.
However, since units occupied after November 15, 2018, are exempt from the guideline limit, in practice, this can include newer purpose-built rentals or newly created units, depending on the property’s history and the statutory conditions described in tenant legal guidance. Students in exempt units may receive a rent increase that exceeds 2.1 per cent, although notice and timing rules would still apply.
Above-guideline increases remain possible through the LTB process. The N1 form itself contemplates that some rent increases above the guideline may occur if approved by an LTB order, or if an application is pending, depending on the circumstances.
For Brock and other Niagara post-secondary students, the 2026 guideline primarily functions as a cap on in-tenancy increases for students who remain in rent-controlled units. The Niagara Region housing strategy indicates that most students live off-campus and cycle through a variety of rental arrangements. As a result, many students’ biggest rent changes may occur not through the annual guideline increase, but at move-in (when rent is set) or in exempt units where the guideline does not apply.