The provincial government says rental caps will not provide cheaper rates for tenants .

Digital Government and Service NL Minister Sarah Stoodley fielded questions from the opposition on the topic over the last few days in the House of Assembly.

Stoodley says she has done a lot of research on the topic, and information from across the country shows that provinces with rental caps and rental control in place have higher year-over-year rate increases.

She says those systems can be quite convoluted with boards, regulations, application processes, fees, and the like.

She says that because the process is so onerous, landlords often ask for big increases, which most of the time get approved.