As changes to Residential Tenancies Act draw near, Yukoners react

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Source: Territories - Northern Affairs (Yukon, NWT, Nunavut)
Date: 2026-10-30 17:51:39.0
Tags: [National, Housing, Affordability, Governance]

Yukon Party MLAs voted to pass statutory amendments to the Residential Tenancies Act, effectively eliminating territorial rent caps and reintroducing no-cause evictions effective December 1. The legislative changes, spearheaded by Community Services Minister Cory Bellmore and supported by Premier Currie Dixon, aim to transition the territory to a market-based rental system and encourage housing investment. The Yukon Residential Landlord Association estimated that landlords have withdrawn more than 200 rental units from the market since rent controls were implemented in 2021, while opposition parties and housing advocates criticized the measures for lacking supporting data and negatively impacting tenant housing security.

Dawson City, Yukon, leaders urge territory to retract no-cause eviction bill

Source: Territories - Northern Affairs (Yukon, NWT, Nunavut)
Date: 2026-10-29 19:12:01.0
Tags: [National, Housing, Affordability, Governance]

The Yukon Legislative Assembly passed Bill 8, enacting amendments to the Residential Tenancies Act that reintroduce no-cause evictions and scrap rent control. In response, Dawson City Mayor Stephen Johnson, the Dawson City Council, and former territorial NDP candidate Francis van Kessel sent letters urging Premier Currie Dixon and Minister of Community Services Cory Bellmore to retract the legislation due to severe rental scarcity and potential strains on community social services.

Yukon gov't passes amendments to Residential Tenancies Act, scrapping rent control

Source: Territories - Northern Affairs (Yukon, NWT, Nunavut)
Date: 2026-10-28 21:04:27.0
Tags: [National, Housing, Affordability, Governance]

The Yukon government passed legislative amendments to the Residential Tenancies Act, effectively scrapping the territorial residential rent cap and permitting no-cause evictions. Backed by Yukon Party MLAs and spearheaded by Community Services Minister Cory Bellmore, the changes are scheduled to take effect on December 1, 2026. While the territorial government asserts that removing rent control will incentivize private-sector rental housing investment and increase long-term supply, housing advocates and opposition politicians have criticized the policy for exacerbating cost-of-living pressures for tenants.

As the Yukon moves to lift rent control, we asked how many MLAs are landlords

Source: Territories - Northern Affairs (Yukon, NWT, Nunavut)
Date: 2026-10-23 11:00:00.0
Tags: [National, Housing, Affordability, Governance]

The Yukon government has tabled legislation to amend the territory's Residential Tenancies Act by lifting the residential rent cap and reintroducing no-cause evictions. CBC News analysis revealed that 6 of the territory's 21 MLAs (or roughly 28.6 per cent)—including four from the governing Yukon Party and two from the NDP—are landlords or have partners who are landlords, prompting conflict of interest concerns from the Official Opposition. However, the territorial conflict of interest commissioner determined that no conflict of interest exists regarding the vote because the legislative amendments apply broadly across the rental market rather than targeting specific properties or individuals.

Housing advocate fears removing rent control will thwart plan to end homelessness

Source: Territories - Northern Affairs (Yukon, NWT, Nunavut)
Date: 2026-10-15 19:45:44.0
Tags: [National, Housing, Affordability, Social Services, Governance]

The Yukon territorial government endorsed the Yukon Anti-Poverty Coalition's 112-page community action plan to end homelessness, titled A Place to Be, while simultaneously introducing a bill in the Legislative Assembly via Community Services Minister Cory Bellmore to repeal rent caps and reintroduce no-cause evictions. Kristina Craig, executive director of the Yukon Anti-Poverty Coalition, expressed concern that the elimination of rent control will jeopardize housing stability for current renters and undermine progress toward the plan's 29 recommendations. Scott Kent, the minister responsible for the Yukon Housing Corporation, stated that the government supports the plan's vision but declined to endorse its target of reducing homelessness by 50 percent in two years, while highlighting forthcoming housing developments such as 34 units at the former Korbo apartment site in Dawson City and 184 units delivered in partnership with the Da Daghay Development Corporation.

No new help for tenants facing end of rent cap, Yukon premier says

Source: Territories - Northern Affairs (Yukon, NWT, Nunavut)
Date: 2026-10-14 18:30:53.0
Tags: [National, Housing, Affordability, Governance]

Yukon Premier Currie Dixon's government introduced legislative amendments to the Residential Tenancies Act in the Yukon Legislative Assembly to eliminate pandemic-era rent caps tied to inflation and restore no-cause evictions, with the changes scheduled to take effect as early as December 1. Premier Dixon stated that the government has no plans to introduce new tenant subsidies beyond an existing federal-territorial housing subsidy program for low- and middle-income households. Housing advocates, the Yukon Anti-Poverty Coalition, and NDP Leader Kate White criticized the repeal, warning it will exacerbate affordability and cost-of-living pressures amidst a tight territory rental vacancy rate of 2.4 per cent and a Whitehorse vacancy rate of 1.5 per cent.

Yukon to eliminate rent control, allow no-cause evictions

Source: Territories - Northern Affairs (Yukon, NWT, Nunavut)
Date: 2026-10-09 01:34:16.0
Tags: [National, Housing, Affordability, Governance]

Yukon Community Services Minister Cory Bellmore introduced amendments to the Residential Tenancies Act in the Yukon Legislative Assembly to eliminate the territory's residential rent control cap and allow no-cause evictions effective December 1. The previous rent cap, enacted in 2021 by Sandy Silver's government under a deal with the NDP, limited annual rent increases to the average rate of inflation for the previous two years. Under the proposed amendments put forward by the Yukon Party government holding a legislative majority, landlords will be required to provide tenants with at least six months notice prior to implementing a rent increase or eviction, an increase from the previous three-month requirement. Opposition Leader and NDP Leader Kate White criticized the changes as devastating for housing affordability, while questioning whether government members who are landlords could be in a conflict of interest regarding the vote.

Ottawa to provide $2B in rebates for homeowners who install heat pumps

Source: CBC Politics
Date: 2026-10-08 15:57:40.0
Tags: [National, Energy, Environment, Housing, Affordability]

The federal government, led by Prime Minister Mark Carney, is launching a $2-billion rebate program to help an estimated 820,000 homeowners across Canada install new heat pumps or replace existing heating systems over the next eight years. Officials state that the program will save participating homeowners an average of $1,400 annually on heating bills while lowering emissions. Additionally, Ottawa is partnering with the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) to offer low-interest financing enabling apartment building owners to retrofit more than 280,000 homes over the same eight-year period.

Ottawa considering ‘options’ as foreign home buyer ban nears end: minister

Source: Global News Politics
Date: 2026-10-07 20:34:15.0
Tags: [National, Housing, Affordability, Economy, Finance]

Federal Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne announced that the Liberal government is considering options regarding the future of the ban on foreign ownership of Canadian residential property. The restriction, originally enacted in 2022 to cool housing markets for Canadian buyers and previously extended in 2024, is scheduled to sunset in January 2027. The government's decision on whether to extend, modify, or allow the ban to expire will be evaluated based on housing stock availability and market evolution ahead of the upcoming federal budget.

C-227 (45-1) - National Strategy on Housing for Young Canadians Act

Source: Parliament of Canada (LEGISinfo)
Date: 2026-10-05 16:52:21.0
Tags: [National, Housing, Affordability, Governance]

Private Member's Bill C-227, titled the National Strategy on Housing for Young Canadians Act and sponsored by Liberal Member of Parliament Braedon Clark, passed second reading in the House of Commons with a 169-152 vote on February 12, 2026. The legislation aims to establish a national strategy addressing housing challenges specifically facing young Canadians. Following its committee review by the Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities (TRAN), the bill was deemed reported back to the House without amendment on October 5, 2026.

Only 150 first-time homebuyer GST rebates approved as of June

Source: CBC Politics
Date: 2026-09-24 21:28:16.0
Tags: [National, Housing, Taxation, Finance, Affordability]

Federal data reveals that as of June, only 150 first-time homebuyer GST rebate applications out of 7,500 received have been approved by the federal government under its program eliminating the GST on newly built or substantially renovated homes worth up to $1 million. The data indicates that 620 applications were denied, 6,700 remain pending with an average processing time of 50 days, and a total of $3,577,000 has been paid out at an average of about $24,000 per rebate. Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne acknowledged the slow rollout, while Department of Finance officials attributed the initial delays to uncertainty surrounding the passage of Bill C-4, which received royal assent in March 2026.

'Right back where I started': Housing First tenants in Yellowknife prepare to lose their homes

Source: Territories - Northern Affairs (Yukon, NWT, Nunavut)
Date: 2026-09-17 18:55:44.0
Tags: [National, Housing, Social Services, Affordability]

Twenty-six clients of the Yellowknife Women’s Society's Housing First program face potential homelessness after corporate landlords Northview Residential REIT and Balto Capital Inc. terminated their leases across multiple apartment buildings, including units on Gitzel Street in Yellowknife. The lease terminations stem from a building portfolio sale from Northview to Balto Capital Inc. at the end of July, setting an eviction deadline for October. The Yellowknife Women’s Society is actively searching for alternative housing units to accommodate the displaced clients as public officials from the City of Yellowknife and the Northwest Territories government express alarm over the loss of housing.

Housing First tenants face eviction after Northview sale of some Yellowknife buildings

Source: Territories - Northern Affairs (Yukon, NWT, Nunavut)
Date: 2026-09-03 01:02:34.0
Tags: [National, Housing, Social Services, Affordability]

The Yellowknife Women's Society announced that 26 people face eviction and potential homelessness after receiving eviction notices for 23 units in the Housing First program. The crisis stems from Northview Residential REIT selling six apartment buildings in Yellowknife—including Dorset Apartments, Simpson House, and Norseman Apartments—to Balto Capital, whose operating model excludes the Housing First program. Additionally, Northview intends to evict Housing First tenants from its Fort Gary apartment building, impacting a program that currently has over 100 people on its waitlist.