Charlottetown residents protest record rent hike as they deal with Fiona hardships

About a hundred Charlottetown residents gathered in the city's downtown Saturday to protest rent hikes coming into effect in the new year.

The Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission announced late last month it was setting a maximum allowable rent increase of 5.2 per cent for unheated rental units or those heated with sources other than furnace oil.

For heated rentals, the increase will be 10.8 per cent.

That's the highest allowable rent increase on record for P.E.I.

The rent hike was announced shortly before post-tropical storm Fiona hit P.E.I. two weeks ago.

Housing advocates told CBC News the storm is just one more hardship for people already dealing with cost of living issues.

"This really shows IRAC just seems incredibly out of touch to most people," said Connor Kelly of P.E.I. Fight for Affordable Housing, which helped organize the event.

"People are barely getting by as it is. So to be hit with this, the increase, and then the hurricane and it seems like the people are just constantly getting blasted with hardship after hardship."

Kelly said he's hearing from people who got a notice that the rent was going up just days after Fiona hit. 

Parker Snow, who spoke at the rally, said everyone in his building received a notice while his landlord was still fixing the roof and doing cleanup after the storm.

"I'm going to be able to afford it, but ... it's almost like tightening the noose at this point," he said. 

"In my building there [are] a lot of seniors who are on, like, fixed incomes and stuff like that, or pension. And it's gonna be really rough on them, too."

Robin Graham was displaced from her apartment because of water damage due to Fiona. Graham said she hasn't looked into a new rental yet, partly because she isn't "emotionally prepared" to see rent prices.

"I've kind of accepted that I'll never rent again," Graham said. 

"People are right on the brink of being unhoused. You know, it's one missed paycheque, it's one car repair that you can't afford, it's one incident where you don't have tenant insurance away from not having anything anymore."

Graham said about half of her income went to rent before she was displaced.

The announced rent increase comes as Charlottetown continues to look for solutions for the growing homeless population living in tent encampments in the city.

Kelly said the more people are priced out, the more likely they end up on the street. 

"Nobody wants to support people if they don't have the money to afford shelter," he said. "It is as if at a certain income level you can just stop becoming a person to the government."

The province said last month it was bringing about 50 mobile units from Western Canada as a temporary fix during the winter.

Housing Minister Matthew MacKay also committed to looking into ways to reverse IRAC's decision shortly after it was announced, saying it's "not the time" to introduce a rent hike due to record-high inflation and the housing crisis affecting the province.

Meanwhile, Green MLA Hannah Bell has been urging tenants to appeal any rental increase even if it is within the allowed limit. Bell said people have a right to appeal increases if it is outside their budget.

The Residential Rental Association of P.E.I. has previously told CBC News the increases are necessary because of inflation.