Rent Control does NOT apply to every rental unit.  If the property was occupied on or after November 1, 1991, rent control does not apply.  It still makes sense to charge rent that is within the current market rates so that your rental unit remains competitive.

Here’s a link to the Ontario Government Rent Increase Guideline for 2016

Increasing the rent at the rent control amount gives you an opportunity to clear up interest that is accruing on the last month deposit. The interest rate and the increase guideline amount are now the same. In 2016 this is 2%.  So if you increase the rent by 2%, you automatically top up the last month deposit (on paper) by 2% by applying the interest amount to the last month deposit rather than paying it out by cheque.

Any rent increase has to follow specific rules. The notice must be delivered to the tenant 90 days before the rent increase.

Here’s a link to the instructions for a rent increase for a unit that was first occupied after November 1, 1991: N2 – Unit not under rent control

And here’s a link to the instructions for a rent increase for a unit that is under rent control: N1 – Unit under rent control