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The comprehensive set of proposed amendments to the Residential Tenancy Act and the Residential Tenancy Act Regulations can be downloaded as a PDF here:

Proposed Amendments – Residential Tenancy Act – ALL v15

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Executive Summary

The vacancy rate in Prince Edward Island continues to be low, and was reported by the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation to be 0.8% in December, 2024. At the same time the construction industry has responded with record-breaking activity, including 1,684 housing starts in 2024. The rent for new rental units added to the market can be set at whatever the landlord sees fit.

For existing rental units, the Residential Tenancy Act legislation on PEI enacts strict rent controls. Each year the Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission determines the allowable rent increase, and this is capped at 3% by the Act. This is even true for vacant rental units – the rent cannot be increased by more than the allowable amount between tenants; these rules are know as vacancy controls. There is a process for landlords to apply for a greater than allowable rent increase, and it is also capped at 3% by the Act. This means any rental unit – occupied or vacant – might have a maximum rent increast of 6% in any given year.

This has created a two-tier set of residential rentals on PEI: newer rental units with higher rents that are less affordable, and older rental units with lower rents that are very affordable. Given the large increases in expenses such as property taxes, insurance, maintenance and repairs, the rent increases for many older units make them unviable as a business for landlords. Since the rent cannot be increased to make the rentals viable, many of the most affordable rental units are being taken off the rental market – e.g. converted in condominiums or sold for other purposes. Those affordable units that are left on the market receive only the maintenance and repairs that landlords can afford – often meaning the quality degrades.

The main purpose of the proposed amendments is to keep affordable rental units on the market by allowing reasonable rent increases. Also, in general, the proposed amendments aim to create a better balance between tenant and landlord priorities, ensuring sustainable and affordable rental housing into the future.

The comprehensive set of proposed amendments to the Residential Tenancy Act and the Residential Tenancy Act Regulations can be downloaded as a PDF here:

Proposed Amendments – Residential Tenancy Act – ALL v15

The proposed amendments have been prepared by consulting with stakeholders, and are based on real-life examples of issues that have occurred. Please find the Executive Summary of the changes below.  As the public consultation continues, the proposed amendments will be updated accordingly with the feedback received. The goal is to bring multiple Private Members Bills to the floor of the PEI Legislative Assembly this fall.

This document outlines comprehensive reforms to Prince Edward Island’s Residential Tenancy Act (RTA) aimed at improving fairness, transparency, and efficiency in the rental housing system. The amendments respond to stakeholder concerns and policy gaps identified through consultations and case law. Key Reforms Include:

Governance and Dispute Resolution

• New Independent Body: Establishes the Office of Residential Tenancy Services (ORTS) to handle tenancy administration, with separate, independent Tenant and Landlord Advisor Offices to improve access to justice. The Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission (IRAC) will retain its role as the appeal body.
• Efficient Appeals: Grants IRAC new authority to summarily dismiss appeals that are frivolous, vexatious, or without merit to reduce delays and procedural abuse.

Rent and Financial Framework

• Unified Rent Increase Formula: Consolidates all greater-than-allowable rent increase provisions into a single, transparent section. It establishes a clear, evidence-based formula to calculate justified increases based on capital expenditures and extraordinary increases in property taxes or insurance.
• Flexible Implementation: Balances landlord viability and tenant stability by phasing in approved increases for occupied units while allowing the full approved amount to be applied when a unit becomes voluntarily vacant.
• Confidentiality and Deposits: Enhances confidentiality protections for landlord financial data submitted in rent increase applications and prioritizes the use of security deposits for property damage over unpaid rent.

Tenancy Management and Evictions

• Balanced Eviction Rules: Reforms “personal use” evictions with tiered notice periods (two months for single-unit landlords) and makes compensation conditional on the length of tenancy.
• Property Protection: Introduces clear legal consequences for tenants who willfully or negligently cause significant property damage, including liability for summary conviction fines. It also streamlines the enforcement of a landlord’s right to inspect a property.
• Stronger Enforcement: Defines “repeatedly late” rent as three late payments in 12 months and creates a new framework for enforcing payment orders, including the potential for wage garnishment and penalties for unjustifiably breaking a lease.
• Lease and Showing Rules: Allows landlords to propose reasonable changes to a lease when a fixed term converts to a month-to-month tenancy. It also requires tenants to temporarily vacate a unit for a short, pre-arranged period for real estate showings.

Modernization and Other Key Improvements

• Heating Conversions: Removes barriers to facilitate the conversion of heating systems from oil to more efficient options like heat pumps.
• Pet-Friendly Housing: Encourages more pet-friendly units by introducing an optional pet damage deposit of up to one-half month’s rent.
• Abandoned Property: Shifts the responsibility for managing a tenant’s abandoned personal property from the landlord to the Director of Residential Tenancy, streamlining a complex and burdensome process.

HISTORY

• August 28, 2025: Comprehensive proposed amendments to the RTA released for public consultation.
• September 10, 2024: Private Members Bill (PMB) consultation draft released by Brad Trivers to amend the RTA to allow landlords to increase the rent on vacant rental units.
• September 4, 2024: RRAP presents to the Standing Committee on Health and Social Development with their request for RTA amendments (see RRAP presentation here). The first of the RRAP “3 Critical Amendments” is “Housing providers must be able to set rental rates on voluntary tenant turnover. (Rent is tied to the unit, and not the tenant)“.
• July 2, 2024: PEI Fight for Affordable Housing send letter to Standing Committee on Health and Social Development with top areas of concern relative to a review of the Residential Tenancy Act. The second of six concerns was:
  • “Vacancy Control & the Need for a Rent Registry – We are concerned about statements by the Landlords’ Association that they would like the Act to provide a legal way of increasing rents when new tenants move in. Affordability is already a serious issue for tenants and will become disastrous, should vacancy be allowed to be a factor in
    determining rent increases. We have heard from tenants who, upon moving into a new apartment, have been charged higher rents than allowable. We continue to advocate for a public rent registry.“
• June 3, 2024: Residential Rental Association of PEI (RRAP) sends letter to Standing Committee on Health and Social Development with key issues being faced by Island housing providers. The top two issues were:
  • “1. Housing providers must be able to set rental rates that run with the tenant, based on the rental agreement, and not with the rental unit.
  • 2. Housing providers must be able to set reasonable rental rates in existing vacant units.“
• May 2024: [CBC news article] After one year in place, both tenant and landlord groups call for changes to the RTA. A key priority of landlord groups is the ability to increase rent on vacant rental units: “The landlords say they want the freedom to increase rents to any level after tenants have left a unit, before the new ones move in. They say P.E.I. is the only province in Canada that doesn’t allow that, since the maximum rent increases in this province are tied to the property, not to the tenant.“
• April 2023: Rob Lantz named new Minister of Housing, Land & Communities. New RTA proclaimed.
• November 3, 2022: New Residential Tenancy Act (RTA) passed in legislative assembly without the ability for landlords to reset rent on vacant rental units. It also included a zero percent rental increase for the current year, contrary to the IRAC recommendation for 10.8% (heated) and 5.2% (unheated). See [CBC news article from November 15, 2022]: “the government considered about 250 written submissions, as well as consultations with the public and landlord and tenants’ rights groups“, and “A group representing Island landlords expressed frustration, saying they had not been consulted and a zero per cent rental increase cap would be unsustainable given P.E.I.’s record-breaking rate of inflation. The landlords said the cap might even force some people to sell their rental units altogether.“.
• July 2022: Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission (IRAC) order LR22-54 published establishing the allowable rent increase for 2023 at 10.8% for rentals where heat included and furnace oil or petroleum source used, and 5.2% for rentals where heat not included. View table of IRAC Allowable Rent Increases since 1989 here.
• July 2022: Brad Trivers shuffled out of cabinet and Matthew MacKay becomes Minister of Social Development & Housing.
• April 2020 through July 2022: Clear feedback from landlords during consultations that the ability to reset rent on vacant rental units is a top priority in a new Residential Tenancy Act.
• February 2021: Cabinet shuffle, and Brad Trivers becomes Minister of Social Development & Housing taking the responsibility for the Rental of Residential Properties Act and new Residential Tenancy Act with him. Government policy expertise is developed in-house for residential rentals, as part of the Housing portfolio.
• March 2020: The COVID pandemic hits. This significantly impacts the ability for in-person public consultations.
• March 2020: [Saltwire Network news article] Islanders are encouraged to provide feedback by the end of March through written submissions by March 20 or through an online survey from March 3 to 20. Public consultation sessions are scheduled in Alberton, Summerside, Montague, and Charlottetown.
• Winter 2020: Consultation draft of new Residential Tenancy Act completed.
• Summer 2019: Third party lawyer hired to draft a replacement for the thirty-year-old Rental of Residential Properties Act.
• May 2019: Brad Trivers appointed to cabinet as Minister of Education & Lifelong Learning – responsible for IRAC and therefore the Rental of Residential Properties Act. This is done purposefully to ensure no conflict of interest with IRAC, and a hands-off policy is encouraged for Department of Education & Lifelong Learning. No policy expertise exists in-house for the Rental of Residential Properties Act, and Clerk of Executive Council manages legislation through relationship with IRAC.