Landlords of 275 Hamilton-area buildings have applied for above-guideline rent hikes since 2017

Since 2017, rental prices have risen sharply amid Ontario's housing crisis.

Newly released data from Ontario's rental housing tribunal analyzed by CBC News shows landlords of 275 properties in Hamilton, Burlington, Niagara Region and nearby areas applied to raise rents above provincial guidelines (AGI) from 2017 to 2022.

CBC's analysis of the data found that in 2022, 28 of the 32 applications in the Hamilton region could be traced back to 19 corporate landlords. While the Ontario Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) data shows the number of applications filed between 2017 and 2021, it did not provide landlord information for those years.

The data CBC analyzed enumerates each above provincial guidelines filed to the LTB between January and August 2022.

It was obtained through an access to information request, initially submitted and exclusively shared with CBC News by the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), a community union of low- and moderate-income people.

Since 2017, rental prices have risen sharply amid Ontario's housing crisis.

Hamilton's rental market has seen the average listing price across the city grow from $1,681 in 2019 to $2,212 in 2023, according to data from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) and Zumper. The average is based on units of all sizes.