Renting This Week in Canada: Hot Bedding and Rent Controls

"Hot bedding" is a rental issue, the whole world basically shares Canada's rental anxiety and precisely what the heck is "affordable housing?"

December is here (can you believe it?). Time to catch up on these rental trends and issues with Renting This Week in Canada:

Meteorological winter is here, and Toronto city staff have recommended that Toronto establish a "maximum temperature bylaw" for all apartments. According to the report, TO city council should adopt a maximum heat bylaw requiring landlords to keep all rental units at or below 26 C.

Speaking of heat, "Hot Bedding" has become a major rental issue Down Under. Zahra Nasreen, in The Conversation, writes that rent prices are so high in Sydney, Australia, that sharing the same beds in overcrowded rooms – hot bedding - has become an everyday reality for some tenants.

Ricardo Tranjan, of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives and author of The Tenant Class, argues in the Financial Post that it's time for Canada to have an honest debate about rent controls. Why, says Tranjan, do we accept the "verdict" that all rent controls are always bad?

Douglas Todd of the Vancouver Sun wants to know why everyone is always picking on REITS, the giant institutions that operate many purpose-built rental buildings. He argues that they take the significant risks in Canada's rental market, and governments love them.

Speaking of REITS, Halifax-based landlord Killam Apartment REIT just posted the "largest rental gains" in company history when new tenants move into an apartment. Housing starts are also on the rise in Halifax, a popular spot for newcomers and international students.

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As for rental housing starts in Toronto, the city just broke ground on the Wilson Heights housing project, which will create more than 500 affordable rentals out of 1,484 residential homes to be built. The site is a former commuter parking lot.

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According to blogTO, a proposed rental tower across from the Drake Hotel will dramatically change the skyline of Toronto's hip West Queen West area. The 27-storey tower will be taller than anything else along the strip.

CMHC conducted a survey earlier this year showing that 85 percent of Canadian rental developers are having difficulties financing their projects. Their challenges, writes Howard Chai in Storeys, are the result of interest rates, government regulations and fees, and construction costs,

Does anyone in Canada understand what "affordable housing" means? Kitchener MP Mike Morrice doesn't think so, and he wants the federal government to adopt consistent criteria for what constitutes affordable housing and how programs are funded.

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Some rude words were exchanged when the Mississauga Planning Committee approved two 12-storey apartment buildings over the objections of angry residents, writes Karen Longwell in insauga. Height and shadows were the main objections from neighbours.

Looking for a rental listing in Surrey?

Rents have fallen 3.4 percent in British Columbia to an average of $2,549, and in Ontario, they've dropped 5.7 percent from October 2024 to an average of $2,350. How much lower can/will they go in 2025?

Canadians are not alone when it comes to rental anxiety. According to the new 2024 Prindex Report, about 1.1 billion adults worldwide (23 percent of the global population) feel insecure about their rights to property or land due to rising rents and mortgages.

Finally, our latest monthly Housing Newsletter for Newcomers and International Students has news, tips, trends, and housing solutions. Check it out.

Steve Tustin is the Content Editor for Rentals for Newcomers and a contributing editor for Prepare for Canada. He is also the former managing editor of Storeys.com and a former senior editor at the Globe and Mail and the Toronto Star.

*No AI-generated content was used in the writing of this story, and all sources are cited and credited where possible.