Residents can offer input on city’s renoviction bylaw at meetings set for East York and Scarborough next week
By AMARACHI AMADIKE
As city councillors await the much-anticipated staff reports on how Toronto can curb profit-driven evictions and secure housing affordability, the City of Toronto has announced public consultation meetings aimed at discussing ideas that will shape its renoviction bylaw.
There will be a total of seven meetings, two of which will take place in Toronto’s east end.
East Toronto residents will have the opportunity to share their opinions at the Wednesday, Sept. 4, meeting at the East York Civic Centre (850 Coxwell Ave) from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Scarborough residents will also be able to voice concerns at the Sunday, Sept. 8, meeting which takes place at the Scarborough Civic Centre (150 Borough Dr) from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
There will also be a city-wide online consultation meeting on Monday, Sept. 9, from 7 p.m. to 8.30 p.m for residents who cannot attend in-person.
“The City of Toronto is inviting residents to provide input on the implementation of a new renovictions bylaw modelled after successful initiatives in other cities across Canada,” stated an Aug. 28 press release from the City of Toronto.
Some say that Toronto’s problem with renovictions intensified in 2018 after the then newly-elected provincial government put forward a legislation which granted newly constructed units, and units occupied for the first time, an exemption from restrictions to rent increases.
The aim of this legislation was to entice developers into building more homes by increasing their potential profit margin.
However, some landlords (at the expense of renters) capitalized on the legislation by proposing unnecessary renovations simply to evict current tenants in order to increase rental prices; subsequently inflating the market.
Earlier this year, Toronto Council directed city staff to look into Hamilton’s recent strategies to tackle unlawful renovictions.
In February, Councillors Paula Fletcher (Toronto-Danforth), Parthi Kandavel (Scarborough Southwest), Mike Colle (Eglinton-Lawrence), and Frances Nunziata (York South-Weston) submitted a proposal for city staff to look into methods that will address the renoviction issue.
Similar to Hamilton, Toronto’s proposed renovictions bylaw will mandate a renovation licence before landlords can start renovating. Landlords will also be required to prove that the property’s vacancy is essential for work to be done.
The proposed bylaw also suggests compensation or accommodation plans for tenants who are forced to vacate their homes.
Along with the East York and Scarborough meetings, there will be meetings held in Downtown Toronto on Sept. 13, Etobicoke (Etobicoke Civic Centre) on Sept. 7, North York (Memorial Community Hall) on Sept. 5, and Toronto’s west end (Parkdale Activity Recreation Centre) on Sept. 5.
Residents are also encouraged to share their experiences regarding renovictions via the online survey which will be available until Monday, Sept. 30, at https://www.toronto.ca/community-people/housing-shelter/rental-housing-tenant-information/understand-fight-evictions/renovictions-bylaw-development/
City staff are expected to report on the proposed renovictions bylaw to the Planning and Housing Committee on Oct. 30.
