How Often Can a Landlord Raise Rent in Alberta

Rent in Alberta can only be increased once every 365 days. Not twelve calendar months — 365 consecutive days, counted from a specific starting point. The distinction matters more than it sounds, and misunderstanding it is one of the fastest ways to end up with a void notice.

How the 365-Day Rule Works

Under the Residential Tenancies Ministerial Regulation (Section 3(1)), rent cannot increase unless at least 365 days have passed since either:

• The commencement date of the tenancy, if rent has never been increased, or
• The effective date of the last rent increase

The clock measures the gap between effective dates, not between the dates you served notice. If the last increase took effect on March 1, 2026, the next increase can't take effect before March 1, 2027 — even if you serve notice months in advance.

365 Days Is Not 12 Months

In years when a leap day falls inside the interval, 365 days and 12 calendar months can land on different dates. For example, 365 days after March 1, 2023 is February 29, 2024 — one day before the March 1 anniversary. Counting "12 months" instead of 365 days can result in a notice that's one day premature.

The safest approach is to count actual days from the starting date, not estimate by months.

What Doesn't Reset the Clock

Several events that feel like they should restart the timeline do not:

A new lease. If a fixed-term lease expires and you sign a new one with the same tenant, the 365-day clock continues from the original tenancy start or last increase. Signing a new agreement does not reset anything.

Consecutive short-term leases. A tenant on back-to-back six-month leases is still on a continuous tenancy. You can't raise rent at the start of the second lease if fewer than 365 days have passed since the tenancy began.

A property sale. When a rental property changes hands, the new owner inherits the existing tenancy, including the 365-day timeline. The sale date is irrelevant to the rent increase clock.

A new property manager. Switching from self-management to a property management company (or vice versa) doesn't affect the clock.

What Does Start the Clock

Only two events start the 365-day count:

1. The commencement of a brand-new tenancy — a new tenant moves in, and their tenancy begins
2. The effective date of a lawful rent increase — once an increase takes effect, the clock resets and the next increase can't happen for another 365 days

An invalid or void rent increase does not reset the clock. If you served a defective notice and the increase never legally took effect, the clock still runs from the previous valid starting point.

Fixed-Term Leases and the 365-Day Rule

Rent cannot be increased during a fixed-term lease. Even if 365 days pass mid-lease, you have to wait until the lease expires. Section 3(5) of the Ministerial Regulation explicitly prevents a mid-term increase just because the calendar threshold was reached.

For consecutive fixed-term leases under one year each, Section 3(4) applies the 365-day rule across the entire chain of leases. Two back-to-back six-month leases mean the earliest possible increase is at the start of the third lease — assuming 365 days have passed since the tenancy began.

Practical Timing

For most landlords with annual lease renewals or month-to-month tenancies, this works out to roughly one increase per year. The key is knowing your exact starting date and counting forward precisely.

The Alberta Rent Increase Guide includes a frequency worksheet that calculates your earliest eligible effective date and works backward to your notice deadline — so you can plan the increase around your actual tenancy timeline.

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