Imposed from above during an economic emergency, rent control played a significant role both in curbing out-of-control inflation and solving the housing crisis Canada was experiencing at the time. A combination of robust rent control and concurrent investments in public housing saw housing prices fall by as much as 30 percent in real terms between 1975 and 1978.
@Sunshine In my jurisdiction, there are effectively no real protections for tenants. Landlords can unilaterally raise rents by any amount without limit, with every lease renewal. My landlord has raised my rent every year for the past 3 years, now, and the housing market is so tight that there are no realistic alternatives for non-wealthy people. In a society where most people are living paycheck-to-paycheck, a 90 day notice is all it takes to evict for no cause.