NDP Leader Kate White says she “learned something” from the unintended consequences of the rent caps that have been applied across the territory.

The Jan. 31 renewal of the Confidence and Supply Agreement (CASA) has brought to light an issue with no-cause evictions that White apologized for on Tuesday. 

As a result of the first CASA agreement signed in April 2021, the rent cap, once intended to protect Yukoners and make housing more affordable, had “unintended consequences” for tenants. 

Community Services Minister Richard Mostyn told reporters Tuesday that there’s no balance in the legislation, and right now it’s tilted against tenants. 

“It’s really a business piece of legislation that promotes business,” he said.

“I’ve been clear from the very start. I believe that the act is out of balance, and we have to bring new rules in place,” said Mostyn. 

He said he brought this to the attention of the NDP and warned the party it should work on an alternative during talks creating the first CASA agreement. 

White told reporters she never expected Yukoners to be treated poorly, and that she has learned lessons from the first agreement. 

“Did I expect that people would be treated so poorly? No, I never did,” she said.

“Did I learn lessons from the first Confidence and Supply Agreement? I did. And you see them reflected in the second one,” White said. 

The second agreement bans no-cause evictions.

Among the many commitments underlined in the first CASA, the parties wanted to improve affordability by implementing a rent cap that rises at the same rate as inflation. 

However, there was no commitment in the deal to include a ban on no-cause evictions. 

The lack of such a ban enabled some landlords to work around the rent cap by evicting tenants so they could charge new tenants significantly higher rental rates. 

No-cause evictions only gave tenants two to three months to pack up their lives, and were evicted just as the name suggests – without a direct cause. 

White said she spoke with those affected. 

“I had conversations with every one of those folks who reached out.

“And in the same breath, I had conversations with the hundreds of people whose rent all of a sudden became stable because, let’s be clear, not every landlord evicted their tenants,” White said. 

For those who were affected, she apologized. 

“I told them I was sorry. And I could never anticipate that someone would be so bad that that’s what they would do,” said White.

“It was hard. It was super-hard.”

The renewed CASA agreement included an immediate elimination of no-cause evictions.

It does permit evictions based on reasonable grounds, such as when tenants violate their rental agreements.

The clause is set to be legislated into the Residential Landlord and Tenant Act following a review of the act. 

Mostyn said he is hoping to bring in a piece of “modern legislation” that meets the needs of the territory, does not stifle investment in rental income or rental units, and allows for tenants to feel secure in their housing. 

Prior to the renewed CASA signing on Jan. 31, Newfoundland and Labrador and the Yukon were the only two areas in the country to not have a ban on no-cause evictions.

In the summer of 2022, the NDP held a news conference at which two tenants evicted for no cause in downtown Whitehorse urged the government to outlaw the practice.

The Yukon Residential Landlord Association has repeatedly warned that the rent caps have prompted some landlords to simply sell their properties, aggravating the shortage of affordable rental accommodations.

The association has also stated that such laws discourage development of future rental properties.

In late 2022, Mostyn advised the legislature that the rent caps would likely end with the expiration of the first CASA, but that didn’t happen.

The official Opposition Yukon Party does not endorse rent caps.