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Of Mainstreet’s 9,159 units based in Western Canada, 1,656 are in Calgary and 3,725 are in Edmonton.

Dhillon, who said rent increases haven’t gone beyond inflation in the last few years, opposes rent controls.

When asked if the NDP has an official position on rent controls, Cheryl Oates, press secretary for Notley, replied in an email: “Affordable housing is one of the many factors that contribute to the overall quality of life of Albertans and the attractiveness of our province to do business in. The Premier-designate is committed to working with municipalities to ensure that every Albertan has a place to call home.”

Rent controls were not in the party’s platform leading up to the recent provincial election.

Ron Kneebone, area director for economic and social policy with the University of Calgary’s School of Public Policy, said rent controls would shrink the number of rental homes on the market.

“The first thing that happens right away is the number of people with apartments has now fallen and remember the goal of this was to increase affordability so that more people will have apartments,” said Kneebone.

“If behind this policy is an idea of trying to get people into housing and trying to make a dent maybe in the homelessness, you’re going in a wrong direction.”

Kneebone also said rent controls could also curtail future investment.

“The real crisis comes longer term. Now there’s going to be people who are saying ‘you know what, I was going to build a new apartment building. I’m not now’. The long-term, and we’ve seen this time and time again wherever rent control has been introduced, is that the supply of rental accommodation falls. So the crisis gets worse and worse,” said Kneebone.