Manitoba must pass legislation to protect tenants and keep rental housing affordable
Wab Kinew promised an NDP government would “make life more affordable for renters” and “strengthen rent controls with legislation to protect renters from big rate hikes” if they were elected in 2023.
In the fall of 2024, the NDP government introduced Bill 26, The Residential Tenancies Amendment Act, to limit above-guideline rent increases, but the Bill did not move forward.
The Right to Housing Coalition is calling on Premier Wab Kinew to deliver on his commitment to the 1-in-3 Manitobans who rent.
Take Action! Tell the Premier that you support rent regulations
Send a letter on your organization’s letterhead using our template below.
Thank you for working with us to protect renters and affordable rental housing!
Template letter to the Premier of Manitoba
Copy and paste the following and send to premier@manitoba.ca
[Add your organization’s letterhead here]
The Honourable Wab Kinew, M.L.A.
Premier of Manitoba
204-450 Broadway
Winnipeg, MB R3C 0V8
Dear Premier:
I am writing to express my support for amendments to the Residential Tenancies Act. It was disappointing to see Bill 26 The Residential Tenancies Amendment Act, to limit above-guideline rent increases, fall off the legislative agenda. I urge you and the NDP government to keep your promise to make life more affordable for renters and to strengthen rent controls with legislation to protect renters from big rate hikes. The legislation should include the following five key priorities:
- Apply rent regulations to units renting for more than $1,640 monthly;
- Replace the 20-year rent regulations exemption for buildings first occupied after 2005 with a 5-year exemption;
- Limit above-guideline rent increases to no more than 9% above the rent increase guideline and no more than 3% a year;
- Calculate rent increases for capital expenses over a 10 to 25-year amortization period, after which the rent increase should be reversed; and
- Disallow rent discounts while ensuring renters keep existing discounts.
All tenants, regardless of the legal rent or the age of their rental unit, should be protected from unpredictable and unlimited rent increases, and landlords should not be allowed to permanently increase their profit margins under the guise of passing temporary cost increases to tenants.
These priorities are rooted in the Right to Housing Coalition’s Social Housing Action Plan for Manitoba, which was released in October 2023. The plan is based on decades of research and consultation. Its five pillars have been endorsed by more than 90 organizations across the province.
Sincerely,
[Add your signature here]
