Rent caps are not being considered for Jasper tenants, says the Alberta government.
This comes amid fears that some tenants could face significant rent increases following the wildfire that destroyed more than 800 residential units in Jasper and has left more than 2,000 residents in need of housing.
“Rent caps are not being considered for Jasper,” said Osagie Ogunbor, spokesperson for Service Alberta and Red Tape Reduction, in an email to the Fitzhugh. “Low-income Jasper residents may qualify for government-supported affordable housing programs. Residents can check if their income falls below the local income thresholds to see if they may be eligible.”
In Alberta, landlords are only permitted to increase rent once per year from the start of the tenancy or the last rent increase, whichever is later. They are required to give three months notice for monthly tenancy, 12 weeks for weekly tenancy or 90 days for any other periodic tenancy.
Jasper tenants will also be responsible for paying rent for when they were evacuated, but the province says if a rental unit rendered uninhabitable, the rental agreement could be deemed “frustrated.”
“If a rental agreement is frustrated, the former tenant is not required to pay rent and the landlord must return the security deposit,” Ogunbor said. “Both parties need to agree. If there’s a disagreement, either party can make an application to the Residential Tenancy Dispute Resolution Service or the courts.”
Prior to the wildfire, Jasper already had a zero per cent vacancy rate.
In 2023, the rental range per unit type for Jasper was $755 to $1,702 for a bachelor, $860 to $2,022 for a one-bedroom, $975 to $2,331 for a two-bedroom and $1,150 to $1,500 for a three-bedroom, although some rental rates may fall outside this range.
Laurisa Reid, who lives in a two-bedroom apartment, has been concerned about rent increases in Jasper for years and was an advocate for rent protection during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Her rent began at $900 per month about nine years ago, but that has since increased to $1,500 per month.
“There’s truly no hope for action,” Reid said. “There was an opportunity to start giving protections years ago, there was knowledge of the problem years ago and here we are.”
Reid is not only worried about inevitable rent increases but has also heard of multiple eviction notices being given to tenants post-wildfire.
“If I could wave a magic wand, I would like to see … an immediate decree that says that no one will be displaced from Jasper,” she said. “No one can be evicted from their homes for two years.”
She doesn’t have any expectations that the rebuild will be handled effectively and is worried that Jasper will become “a resort and not a community.”
Janis Irwin, the Alberta NDP’s critic for housing, had introduced a bill last spring imposing limits on rent increases that was later defeated.
Irwin noted that communities across Alberta have been experiencing rapid rent increases and that Alberta was the largest province in Canada that has no form of rent control or caps on rent.
“We’ve never said that rent caps would solve the housing crisis, but [it’s] one way to let Albertans catch their breath while more affordable housing is being built,” she said.
Although landlords may need to increase rent to cover costs such as an increase in their mortgage, Irwin said she had heard of rent increases anywhere from 40 to 80 per cent, which she described as “completely disproportionate.”
Irwin had heard stories of Jasper residents trying to rent in the neighbouring town of Hinton and saw rental rates skyrocket.
“At a time when we know the crisis is so acute, this provincial government should be doing all they can, and they're not,” she said.
Irwin advocated for the province providing relief to those who were evacuated but still on the hook for rent during that period, and she promised to bring up the lack of housing for Jasper residents in the legislature next month, should the situation not improve by then.
“I really think this is an opportunity for the government to show their commitment to Jasper, and so far, we haven't seen that,” Irwin said.
She also criticized the government for its lack of progress on getting interim housing for displaced residents.
“Initially, I was hopeful, hearing the province say that they were going to act, and they were going to be moving on temporary accommodations,” she said. “But I can tell you, I’ve heard from multiple folks in Jasper. There’s been a lot of nice things said, but there hasn’t been action.”
On Sept. 13, officials from all three levels of government announced they would be reviewing 13 expressions of interest for providing interim housing. However, Municipal Affairs Minister Ric McIver warned that this interim housing supply would be limited with priority given to essential workers.
Cam Jenkins, a broker with Jasper Real Estate, said they had managed 231 doors for 530 individuals, roughly 12 per cent of the town’s population, and lost about 70 doors during the wildfire.
Some notices of rent increase had already gone out earlier this year for these tenants and are expected to take effect in October.
Jenkins confirmed that no decisions have been made about further rent increases but noted that rent was ultimately a cost analysis that needed to consider the rising costs of utilities, insurance and other expenses.
“Nobody’s getting a free ride,” he said. “In Jasper, outside of Cavell Court, which is owned by a real estate investment trust, everything else is owned by mom and pop. These are not huge, wildly sophisticated, publicly traded companies with incredibly deep pockets.”
He dismissed the idea of rent caps. As an example, he explained how a rent cap of two per cent wouldn’t allow landlords to cover a 38 per cent increase for insurance or a 58 per cent increase for gas.
“That’s really a fantasy world,” he said. “It sounds great, it sounds wonderful, and it’s a really nice talking point, and it maybe scores some political points, but in all reality, that’s in the land of unicorns and lollipops.”
Jenkins also noted “a growing sense of frustration” in the community about how long it was taking for interim housing to materialize, particularly as winter is approaching and no rebuilding would likely begin until next spring.
“It’s going to be a really rough and bumpy winter for lots of people as they’re trying to settle into where they’ve relocated and what Jasper’s looking like,” he said. “We need to get our economy going so that we can start having people returning and having hours [to work]. Then they can afford to have their rent and those kinds of things paid.”
