To promote access to healthy, safe and affordable housing, the City of Montreal announced that it wants to make multi-unit owners-landlords more responsible. As of now they will have to obtain responsible landlord certification and disclose the rent for their accommodations.
This new certification will apply to rental buildings with 8 or more units and will include a rent register. To obtain their certification, the owners must inspect their building and their dwellings to ensure that they are in good condition, and commit to making the necessary corrections and renovations, when required. This exercise will have to be repeated every 5 years. The City will make information on certification status and rents available on its website.
This project will be the subject of a public consultation in the spring. The entry into force is scheduled for the first months of 2023. The implementation will be done gradually over a period of 5 years, starting with the largest buildings (100 units or more).
Reduce Negligence and Abuse
For owners who are already acting responsibly, the process of becoming certified will be simple. The approach is primarily aimed at controlling negligent owners. It should also make it possible to reduce excessive rent increases and help tenants in the search for adequate housing. These new provisions will be incorporated into the Sanitation and Maintenance of Dwellings Regulation. In the event of non-compliance, statements of offense may be issued and, in serious cases of non-compliance, certification will be refused or revoked.
Multiplex owners can find out more about the project on the city’s website via a pdf titled Certification propriétaire responsable et registre de loyers.
“Thanks to Responsible Landlord Certification and the rent register, we are not only fulfilling a key commitment of our second mandate, we are also offering Montrealers one more tool to better understand the state of our rental stock and demand correction of insalubrity problems. This new regulation will also help prevent abusive rent increases and renovictions” said the mayor of Montreal Valerie Plante.
