Toronto tenants are looking at a tighter squeeze when they pay the rent – and a tougher search for apartments – because of Ontario’s new Fair Housing Plan -which expands rent controls.

The average rent on apartments listed on MLS in the second quarter of this year – went up 11 percent year-over-year – passing the $2,000-a-month mark – according to a report from condo research company Urbanation.

President Shaun Hildebrand ties the increase to the government’s new housing policies announced in April – which include extending rent controls to buildings occupied after 1991.

There’s also the foreign buyers tax – that’s believed to be a key psychological factor in the subsequent rapid cooling of the housing market.