In BC, once a year the landlord of the residential property may increase the rent for the existing tenant up to the the yearly rent increase limit, as set by the Residential Tenancy Branch. The 2026 rent increase limit for residential tenancies is 2.3%. Rent cannot increase more than the annual limit. Landlords can't round up when calculating the allowable rent increase.The landlord may only increase the rent 12 months after the date that the existing rent was established with the tenant(s) or 12 months after the date of the last legal rent increase for the tenant(s), even if there is a new landlord or a new tenant by way of an assignment. A landlord must give a tenant at least three whole months' notice, in writing, of a rent increase. For example, if the rent is due on the first day of the month and the tenant is given notice any time in January, even January 1st, there must be 3 whole months before the rent increase begins. In this example, the months are February, March, and April, so the rent increase would begin on May 1st. The landlord must use form #RTB-7, Notice of Rent Increase, and must serve according to the Residential Tenancy Act (“RTA”).

In your case, if you have been served with a three months’ notice in Form #RTB-7 and new increased rent will be effective 12 months after the date of the last legal rent increase, the landlord is legally entitled to increase monthly rent by $54.05 which is exactly 2.3% increase and is within the rent increase limit allowed for 2026. The 2027 rent increase limit for residential tenancies is 2.2%. The annual rent increase rules in BC don't require your landlord to reduce your rent to match the current market price. However, you may request landlord not to increase the rent based on market conditions, rather than asserting that the increase is legally invalid.