Statement from the CALODI regarding the 2025 rent increase announcement

On January 21st, 2025, the applicable percentages for the fixing of rent for 2025-26 were announced by the TAL. These percentages predict an average rent increase of 6.5% for an unheated dwelling and 6.1% for a dwelling heated with electricity, after taking into account a municipal tax increase of 5%. This is a shock for all tenants in Quebec and an insult to everyone who has been advocating for concrete measures to curb the growing housing crisis, to everyone who is already struggling to pay rent. This historic rent increase, coming on the heels of another historic rent increase in 2024, will lead directly to many tenants having to choose between paying rent and paying for groceries and life-saving medication. Unfortunately, more tenants will end up out on the street, unable to keep up with rent increases that continue to outpace wages. 

The housing crisis and the growing number of unhoused people in Quebec is a direct result of both the government’s failure to build social housing and to implement real protections for tenants, such as rent control and a mandatory rent registry, as well as the fact that all levels of government have allowed real estate speculation to spiral out of control. The CAQ has tried to blame immigration for the housing crisis, but we know that immigrants are not to blame for this crisis – real estate speculation is to blame here.

We join other housing organizations and tenants’ rights advocates in calling for an immediate rent freeze to prevent an imminent state of emergency for Quebec tenants. We also join the Comité logement Lachine-Lasalle in denouncing the inclusion of a “net income adjustment” in the TAL’s calculation method for a rent increase – which essentially ties rent increases to a building’s revenue, creating a dangerous snowball effect that is incompatible with the current state of housing – and call on the Housing Minister to remove this element from the rent adjustment formula via a modification to the Regulation respecting the criteria for the fixing of rent. 

To learn more about the 2025-26 rent adjustment percentages announced by the TAL and to learn about your rights regarding lease renewals and rent increases, we encourage you to attend one of our upcoming free workshops on rent increases. 

However, in a context where the legally permissible rent increase as set by the government is estimated at over 6%, we know that simply getting informed about your rights is not enough. We need to take action and express our rage and our resolve to no longer accept such insults from the government, which is why we are organizing a protest in the West Island to call for a rent freeze. The protest will take place on Monday, January 27th from 4 to 6 pm at the STM Fairview Terminus in Pointe-Claire, and we encourage all tenants to show up and bring something to make noise with (pots and pans, instruments, jars with beans, etc). As tenants, we make up 40% of the population of Quebec – let’s show the government that we are a force to be reckoned with and that we will not stay silent as our rights are stripped, our pockets are raided, and our homes are taken from us.