Vivre en Ville is launching a Rent Registry in Ontario, so that Ontario tenants can be informed.
First of all, let us remember that Québec and Ontario laws are very different.
Starting with clause G, which does not exist in Ontario.
Whether it is for Québec or Ontario, the implementation of such a registry is a bad idea for the interest of investors and the quality of the buildings. We could also mention the appropriation of the management of the property of others.
For the Association des Propriétaires du Québec (APQ), a register of leases is simply useless. Tenants are already protected more than anywhere else in the world. Moreover, the provision that aims to maintain the rental price of a housing following the departure of the tenant must be abolished, quite simply.
Protection is granted to the existing tenant, but in addition to this the tenant can request that the rent be reduced to a lower price while he has freely negotiated and signed a contract, i.e., the lease.
This provision is contrary to people’s freedom to contract.
Only the mechanism of supply and demand should govern this type of situation. If a rental housing is too expensive, it will not find a buyer and the price will be adjusted accordingly.
Ontario had already set up a registry, a register of leases, which they abolished, and the cost of setting it up was estimated at $35 million.
These exorbitant costs for setting up a registry and the annual cost of managing it should instead be invested in tenant assistance programs or renovation credits.
Moreover, as indicated on their website(1) and discussed by Adam Mongrain, CEO of Vivre en Ville, during their parliamentary committee hearing on Bill 31, the data entered are not verified. A tenant, or any other malicious person could possibly enter wrong amounts.
A major housing project must be undertaken before other unverifiable initiatives emerge and aggravate the situation.
(1) Conditions d'utilisation | Registre des loyers (rentalregistry.ca)