Reject Your Rent Increase: Explaining TAL’s Misleading 3.1% Increase Suggestion

In January, the Tribunal Administratif du Lodgement (TAL) released its recommendation for 2026 rental increases– 3.1%, with some caveats. Specifically, after considering the yearly CPI (consumer price index), landlords may tack increases in their property and school taxes, fire and liability insurance, service expenses (parking, furniture, pool etc.), and major renovations from previous yearsonto the TAL’s recommendation. HOJO continues our work encouraging our community members to reject any proposed rental increase above the TAL’s recommendation while maintaining occupancy– as per their rights– and negotiate with landlords to encourage lower rent rates in Montreal. It is important for tenants to retain a working knowledge of their rights. Understanding your rights is a necessary part of not just the rental increase process, but your overall experience as a tenant in the city. One way to increase your understanding of Montreal’s rental increase laws (i.e. what is and isn’t allowed to be factored into the increase percentage) is by asking your landlord to complete a Calcul 2026 document, available in the note below detailing tools for the negotiation process. 

Explaining the new increase rules:

According to the TAL’s Calcul 2025 document, their tool was designed to help tenants and landlords negotiate in good faith, emphasizing a strong understanding of criteria that would be used in an official TAL ruling for rent fixation. The TAL’s Calcul 2026 is in its infancy, which may make it confusing for tenants. There are currently three possible calculation tools that may be used, so be very careful when assessing which one is applicable to your increase. The first question to consider is when your lease renews:

• For leases renewing before April 1 2026, please use the Calcul 2025 tool.
• For leases renewing after April 2 2026 and onwards, consider when the notice of rent increase was sent by the landlord. If it was sent before January 1 2026 then you use the old Calcul 2026   If it was sent as of January 1 2026, use the new Calcul 2026 tool.

We understand that this calculation method is confusing, so please come and see us if you are in any way confused about your rent increase! 

How do we know when a rent increase was sent by the landlord?

• For notices delivered in person, please consider the day that the landlord (or building manager, concierge, janitor, etc) hands it to you.
• For notices delivered via registered mail, please consider the day that the landlord (or building manager, concierge, janitor, etc) put the letter in the mail.
• If the landlord leaves the notice and has no proof of delivery, the date considered should be when the tenant picked it up, unless the landlord can prove a different date.
• What about notices delivered by a bailiff? It must have an official stamp from said bailiff on the envelope. The date on the stamp is the official start of your one month negotiation process. 

Here are some tools to help you navigate a strong negotiation offer for your landlord:

• Modification d’une condition du bail 
• Changing a condition of the lease 
• Pourcentages applicables aux critères de fixation de loyer 
• Le calcul de l’ajustement des loyers en 2026 
• Renseignements nécessaires à la fixation du loyer 
• Formulaire RN 2026-2027
• Outil de calcul 2026 (main info) 
• Outil de calcul 2026 online tool

How to reject an increase:

The process for rejecting a rent increase is relatively simple. If your lease is 12 months or more, your landlord has between 3-6 months before your lease is set to renew to send you their proposed increase percentage. Leases of less than 12 months or with an indefinite term have a notice period of 1-2 months.Within the negotiation period, typically lasting one month, you have three options– accept the increase and retain occupancy in the unit, reject the increase and leave the unit at the end of your lease term, or reject the increase and retain occupancy in the unit. If your landlord does not send you any rental increase or proposed lease modifications within the above timeframe, your lease continues on with the same terms as the year prior. Once you have received your notice, you have 1 month to respond with your answer. 

HOJO encourages the community to reject any rent increase above the TAL’s recommendation, even if it is a relatively small percentage above your current rental rate. Collective increased rejections protects tenants and provides more guaranteed rent control for everyone throughout the city. Once you have rejected the increase, you and your landlord enter the negotiation phase of the process. When you present your rejection to your landlord, it is prudent to come prepared with a counteroffer, utilizing the resources above to estimate a fair increase for all parties involved. 

Do you find the new process or any of the numbers and calculation tools confusing? Come visit us at our office in the Hall Building during our opening hours or send us an email at hojo@csu.qc.ca.