As part of efforts to address housing pressures Yukoners are facing, the territory’s residential rent index has been updated. Rental increases in the Yukon are indexed to inflation up to a limit of 5 per cent. Should inflation fall below 2 per cent, landlords can still adjust rent up to 2 per cent.
An Exemption Regulation to the Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (RLTA) has also been introduced that places conditions on ending a residential tenancy in the territory.
Landlords in the Yukon may end a tenancy for cause as laid out in the RLTA, including failure to comply with the tenancy agreement; non-payment of rent; noise and disturbance or destruction of property; or if they or their family member will occupy the rental unit, as per the new Exemption Regulation.
The residential rent index and the Residential Landlord and Tenant Act Exemption Regulation are elements of the renewed Confidence and Supply Agreement.
The annual Consumer Price Index (CPI) for Whitehorse is used to calculate allowable rent adjustments. The Yukon Bureau of Statistics calculates the CPI every year.
Rents cannot increase more than 5 per cent in years when the CPI for the previous calendar year was equal to or greater than 5 per cent.
Rents cannot increase more than the CPI in years when the CPI for the previous calendar year was equal to or greater than 2 per cent and less than 5 per cent.
Rents cannot increase more than 2 per cent in years when the CPI for the previous calendar year was less than 2 per cent.
In 2022, the CPI was 6.8 per cent. This means that as of May 15, 2023, landlords in the Yukon may increase their residential rents up to 5 per cent.
A landlord must give a tenant a full three months’ notice on the approved form of a rent increase.
The Exemption Regulation does not apply to notices to end tenancy without cause that have already been served. This means that if a landlord has served a tenant with a notice to end tenancy without cause before the Exemption Regulation takes effect (January 31, 2023), the normal processes of section 47 and section 49 apply.
The Exemption Regulation applies only to current tenancy agreements. Therefore, after a tenancy ends, a landlord may convert the rental unit to a vacation accommodation or take it off of the rental market.
The Yukon was one of only two jurisdictions in Canada to have allow evictions without cause. With this regulatory change, there is now only one province in Canada that continues to allow landlords to evict tenants without specific cause.
The Confidence and Supply Agreement between the Yukon Liberal Caucus and the Yukon NDP Caucus was extended on January 31, 2023, and remains in effect until an election is called in 2025.
Renée Francoeur
Cabinet Communications
867-334-9194
renee.francoeur@yukon.ca
Echo Ross
Communications, Community Services
867-335-9145
echo.ross@yukon.ca