Students pitch Quebec rent policy to help Alberta's housing affordability woes
The Graduate Students' Association at the University of Calgary is pitching a solution to the province's housing crisis.
It wants the Alberta government to launch a pilot program modelled after a rent increase policy in Quebec that the students say better balances tenant and landlord needs than traditional rent caps do.
In Quebec, tenants have the right to refuse rent increases from landlords.
Those disputes can then be brought to a housing tribunal — the Tribunal administratif du logement — which decides if the proposed increase is reasonable to maintain or improve the property.
In a paper titled "Soften the Blow," the association is proposing that the Alberta government tests this approach using a group being hit hard by housing shortages and soaring rents: students.
"What we're calling on is to identify a small community of participants surrounding the university and in student-dense areas to pilot this project to see if it is able to stabilize rents while keeping both tenants and landlords happy," said James Steele, president of the Graduate Students' Association.
"We think it's a really equitable model that could be applied in Alberta really easily."
The Graduate Students' Association of the University of Calgary represents over 8,500 master's and PhD students — many of whom are struggling to find and secure housing they can afford. (CBC)
The pitch comes as the provincial government and many economists persistently shoot down the idea of caps on rent increases, despite Calgary renters facing the steepest rent increases across the country.
Steele said this method provides more flexibility than one-size-fits-all rent limits and, if piloted, it could be adjusted where necessary to find a balance for both sides without causing harm to the entire market.
The association has already sent the report to the Ministry of Advanced Education.
No to rent control: economist, province
The argument against traditional rent caps is generally that it discourages developers from building more rental supply — which experts say is key to balancing the market and lowering rents for tenants.
While Quebec's rental regulation doesn't universally restrict how much landlords can raise rents by, Concordia University economics professor Moshe Lander said it has its limitations.
"It does effectively constrain the ability of the landlord to increase rent. If the price of a unit is below market value, and if the market is rising faster than what you can sustainably ask for, then you are falling further and further behind," said Lander.
That could cause landlords to neglect their properties, he said.
Or it could push landlords to prioritize renting their units to tenants with stable incomes, making it more difficult for students, low-income renters, or seniors to sign a new lease.
"It's almost indirectly subsidizing the very people that don't need the subsidy and it's harming the people that need the support."
Lander said, from a market standpoint, the best thing that can be done is to build more units to keep up with demand, which will take a few years. In the meantime, he said it will become increasingly difficult to support people who need immediate help without facing long-term consequences.
In a statement to CBC, the province said rent control does not work and it's focused on increasing housing supply instead.
"The Government of Alberta protects tenants and landlords through the Residential Tenancy Act. If a tenant believes a rent increase is unjust, they can file a complaint with the residential tenancy dispute resolution service," said Hunter Baril, who's covering for the press secretary for the Ministry of Seniors, Community and Social Services.
For Steele, students who are bearing the brunt of the housing crisis can't afford to wait on the results of long-term solutions. He said he remains hopeful for further conversations with the province.
"We do think it is a very good safeguard to at least help folks out a little bit."
