Manitoba rent increase notices: timing and exemptions
Most covered Manitoba tenancies require at least three months of proper written notice before a rent increase, and most rents can increase only once a year.
What a tenant should check on the notice
- Date and amount: the proposed effective date, rent before and after, and the increase in both dollars and percentage.
- Required disclosures: check the annual guideline, the statutory three-month notice requirement and the tenant’s right to object where the landlord seeks more than the guideline. Manitoba provides Form 1A, Notice of Rent Increase.
- Service date: did the tenant receive proper written notice at least three months before the increase? For a January 1 increase, Manitoba gives September 30 as the latest receipt date; do not count from the date typed on a letter if it arrived later.
- Coverage: does the guideline cover the specific unit, is a valid above-guideline application pending, and has the Director actually issued an order?
Guideline percentages versus exemptions
The published guideline is 1.8% for increases effective in 2026 and 3.0% for increases effective in 2027. Manitoba Regulation 91/2026 changed the high-rent exemption: for an increase effective January 1, 2027 or later, the starting test is whether the unit’s monthly rent payable on December 31 of the preceding year was $2,000 or more. Thus, a $1,950 December 2026 rent does not become exempt merely because the landlord proposes $2,050 for January 2027. For rent increases effective through December 31, 2026, the prior exemption rules still apply, regardless of notice date. Beginning in 2028 the exemption threshold adjusts annually under the regulation; do not assume $2,000 remains the future threshold.
Other exemption categories include certain government/subsidized housing, nonprofit arrangements and newer complexes during their statutory exemption period. The Branch describes a 20-year exemption for complexes first built and occupied after March 7, 2005; the actual first-occupancy date matters, so a building built in 2006 is not automatically exempt forever. Ask the Branch to verify the unit’s status before treating the percentage guideline as either applicable or inapplicable.
If the landlord applied for an increase above the guideline
The Branch’s newer October 2026 notice says a tenant waiting for an above-guideline application decision is not required to pay any of the proposed increase until the Director issues an order. That means paying the previously payable rent while the proposal is undecided, not paying the higher proposed amount automatically. An older Branch FAQ still describes a pay-first/refund-later practice; follow up with the Branch if your landlord relies on that older wording. Read the above-guideline application guide and the newer Branch notice.
If the notice appears wrong
Keep the notice and rental history, ask the landlord for the basis of the increase, and contact Manitoba’s Residential Tenancies Branch. Use the rent calculation tool only after confirming your unit’s coverage.