After 16 years, residential rental security deposits will resume earning interest in Alberta in 2024. Landlords will be required to pay out 1.6 per cent interest on funds they hold as security deposits when renters mark a completed year of tenancy, unless the parties have agreed in writing to an alternative arrangement. This is the first time interest payments have been triggered since 2008 under the formula established in provincial regulations.

Those rules set a threshold for the interest rate on security deposits at 3 per cent below the rate for the Alberta Treasury Branch (ATB) Financial cashable one-year GIC as of November 1 of the previous year. In November 2023, that GIC rate was 4.6 per cent.

“Landlords have been required to pay interest on security deposits since 2004, but only when interest rates reach a certain level. This year, for the first time in a long time, they’ve reached that level,” observes Dale Nally, Alberta’s Minister of Service Alberta and Red Tape Reduction.

Tenants, including renters of mobile homes, can generally expect to receive the interest payment on the anniversary of submitting a security deposit. However, some landlords and tenants may have signed an agreement for the interest to be compounded annually and paid out at the end of the tenancy. Additionally, landlords who have contractually agreed to pay a higher level of interest must hold to it regardless of the regulated rate.