Calgary renter frustrated after landlord proposes nearly 20 per cent boost

A Calgary woman is calling for rental control in the province after her landlord proposed drastically increasing her rent by nearly twenty per cent increase just months after moving in.

“It’s unmanageable,” said Michelle Roux, a Calgary renter dealing with a $200/month rent increase.

The impact of inflation has many Albertans cutting costs in their life including driving less or making switches at the grocery store. Some, like Roux have downsized and moved.

“I was living in a three-bedroom. I didn’t need a 3-bedroom, I’m a single mom with one son and I wanted to downsize so I moved into a 2-bedroom basement suite so I could try to save money,” said Roux.

Before Roux could unpack all of her moving boxes her landlord let her know he was planning on increasing the rent by almost twenty per cent.

“For a basement suite for it to be raised 200 dollars that is a little extreme. And after three months of moving into a place, I’ve never heard of it,” said Roux.

When Roux moved in, she says her landlord suggested he was looking to sell the place—and proposed a month-to-month lease. She didn’t expect he’d look to increase the rent right away.

“I’ve realized I have to look for another place – it’s inevitable now,” said Roux.

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Alberta doesn’t have rent control preventing drastic increases like this. Some provinces, like Ontario, have a limit to how much rent can be raised.

Roux says Alberta needs something in place.

“There should be some kind of restrictions. There should be some sort of limitations in this world for that, for us,” said Roux.

She advises others to know their rights as a renter and do background work before they get into any sort of rental agreement.