CAPREIT tenants win rental dispute over expired above-guideline increase at Church-Wellesley building
Ontario Divisional Court rules landlord must reverse full 8.3% AGI from 2013 after phasing in was incorrect; 100+ tenants at 100 Wellesley affected.
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More than a dozen tenants at 100 Wellesley Street East won a major rental dispute after the Ontario Divisional Court ruled that Canadian Apartment Properties Real Estate Investment Trust (CAPREIT)—one of Canada's largest landlords—must reverse a full 8.3 per cent above-guideline rent increase (AGI) from 2013.
CAP REIT had issued the increase in 2013 to fund building upgrades and phased it in over three years: 2.5 per cent, 2.9 per cent, and 2.9 per cent. Under Ontario law, landlords can impose AGIs up to nine per cent but must apply them in increments of no more than three per cent annually over three years, amortized over the weighted useful life of the capital improvement.
When 2023 arrived—10 years after the initial AGI—the tenants expected the full 8.3 per cent to be reversed. CAPREIT reduced rents by only 2.5 per cent, mirroring the first year's increase. The tenants successfully challenged the decision; the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) initially sided with CAPREIT, but reversed course in 2025, finding it had "seriously erred" in its earlier decision. CAPREIT appealed, but the Divisional Court concluded the agreement language was "not ambiguous" and ordered the landlord to pay $5,000 in costs.
Karen Andrews, a lawyer with the Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario, noted the ruling has broader implications. Many renters across Toronto continue to pay expired AGIs because they don't realize the increases are temporary. "There isn't really a lot of affordable housing out there," Andrews said. "People will just tolerate it because they're so afraid of fighting with their landlord."
The facts
What rent increase did CAPREIT impose at 100 Wellesley in 2013?
Canadian Apartment Properties Real Estate Investment Trust (CAPREIT) issued an 8.3 per cent above-guideline increase (AGI) in 2013 at 100 Wellesley Street East, phased in over three years at 2.5 per cent, 2.9 per cent, and 2.9 per cent annually.
When did the Ontario Divisional Court rule in favor of the tenants?
The Ontario Divisional Court ruled in favor of the tenants after the Landlord and Tenant Board reversed its decision in 2025 and found CAPREIT had 'seriously erred' in reducing rents by only 2.5 per cent instead of the full 8.3 per cent in 2023.
How many tenants at 100 Wellesley were affected by this dispute?
More than 100 tenants at 100 Wellesley Street East were affected by the rental dispute over the expired above-guideline increase.
