The rent cap applies to:

• tenants who have a residential lease
• tenants in a fixed-term lease and signing another lease for the same unit.

Rents for existing tenants staying in the same unit cannot increase by more than 5% annually.

Any new or extra costs for services originally included in the lease (like parking) or removing services included in the lease (like electricity) are also considered a rent increase and must be within the 5% rent cap.

If a tenant's rent increased by more than 2% between September 1, 2020, and December 31, 2023, their landlord will have to credit them the amount above the 2% on their next rental payment.

If the tenant no longer lives there but has paid the higher rent, the landlord must reimburse them for the overpayment.

The rent cap does not apply to:

• Commercial leases.
• New tenants signing new leases for a new residence.  Landlords can set rent at market value for these tenants.
• Tenants with rent-geared income leases under public housing programs
• Tental increases for lot fees in land-lease communities such as mobile home parks.  There are other rental increase rules that apply to rent increases in land-lease communities.

Landlords can only increase the rent once every 12 months. The rent can't be increased by more than 5% per year.

Landlords must give tenants written notice of a rent increase, as follows:

• 4 months written notice for year-to-year leases
• 4 months written notice for month-to-month leases

The written notice must say:

• The amount of the rent increase
• The date the rent will go up.

As of February 3, 2023, landlords can give written notice of a rent increase at any time of year. Before that change in the law, landlords could only give notice 4 months before the lease anniversary date.   

Tenants and landlords are always encouraged to work together to resolve disputes. 

If the tenant believes the landlord has not followed the rental increase rules and the landlord and tenant cannot resolve the dispute, tenants and landlords can use Form J to apply to the Residential Tenancies Program for dispute resolution. 

There is more information about the dispute resolution process:

• In the Residential Tenancies Program’s guide to resolving disputes
• In Dalhousie Legal Aid’s Tenants Rights Guide. 

If you’re in a fixed-term lease

Technically, the rent cap applies to tenants with fixed-term leases. If a landlord imposes a rent increase above the cap, it's invalid, and the tenant isn't bound to pay the additional amount. 

The "loophole" with fixed-term leases is that they do not come with any long-term security of tenure. It's entirely up to the landlord whether to agree to a new lease or not. So, if a tenant in a fixed-term lease contests an invalid rent increase, the landlord may simply decline to renew their lease on the next anniversary date.

The result is that tenants in fixed-term leases may accept invalid rent increases just because they want to maintain a good relationship with their landlord, and they don't want to risk the possibility that their lease may not be renewed in the future. 

So, a tenant in a fixed-term lease with a landlord who wants to raise the rent by more than what's allowed by the cap is in a tricky situation. On the one hand, the tenant is within their rights to insist that the landlord stick to the cap. On the other hand, if the tenant enforces their rights, they might strain their relationship with their landlord, which might result in the landlord choosing not to renew their lease when it expires. 

Tenants with a year-to-year lease can use Form C1: Tenant's Notice to Quit if they want to end their tenancy (lease) early because their landlord gave them notice of a rent increase.

This is for cases where the landlord follows the proper procedure and imposes a rent increase of the proper amount and the tenant decides they want to get out of the lease. 

You can get information about residential tenancies from:

• Nova Scotia Residential Tenancies Program (for landlords and tenants)
• Nova Scotia Legal Aid (legal help for tenants)
• Dalhousie Legal Aid (legal help for tenants) and Dalhousie Legal Aid Tenant Rights Guides
• ACORN Canada (for tenants)
• Rental Housing Providers Nova Scotia (for landlords)
• Nova Scotia Affordable Housing Commission