‘Renoviction’ bylaw for Toronto moving closer to final approval

By AMARACHI AMADIKE

The City of Toronto’s Protection of Affordable Rental Housing Subcommittee was created in 2019, however, there appeared to be a lack of progress in handling the increasing number of renovictions city residents were experiencing.

This changed after Toronto councillors decided to adopt a Hamilton-style strategy in their battle against unlawful evictions following the neighbouring municipality’s successful campaign to do so.

In February, Toronto-Danforth Councillor Paula Fletcher (along with Scarborough Southwest Councillor Parthi Kandavel, Eglinton-Lawrence Councillor Mike Colle, and York South-Weston Councillor Frances Nunziata) proposed that the Planning and Housing Committee look into the feasibility of following Hamilton’s footsteps with their strategy for controlling “renovictions” and protecting tenants.

On Wednesday, Oct. 30, eight months after the proposal was introduced to council, Toronto’s Planning and Housing Committee will consider the approval of city staff’s renovictions bylaw which would come into effect on July 31, 2025 if given the green light.

“This is a milestone in our city,” said Fletcher in an Oct. 23 statement. “Profit-driven renovictions reduce our supply of affordable housing, displace tenants and drive up the price of housing.”

According to the City of Toronto, a renoviction is when a tenant gets evicted due to a landlord’s false claim that a unit must be vacant in order to undertake renovations or repairs.

With Toronto having no rental vacancy protection in place as a result of decisions made by the provincial government, landlords can then increase a unit’s rental cost once new tenants take over.

This has resulted in the displacement of many tenants across the city as well as the permanent loss of affordable market rental housing.

According to Toronto’s HousingTO 2020-2030 Action Plan progress report, the city’s affordable housing stock has been on a steady decline with only one unit being built for every 18 affordable housing units lost.

“We will never get those affordable units back once they’re gone,” said Don Valley Community Legal Services Community Development Worker Laura Anonen.

“We’ve seen clients lose their homes and tenants displaced from their communities. This renovictions bylaw will make a huge difference for renters across Toronto.”

Once implemented, the new renoviction bylaw will require landlord’s issuing an N13 Eviction Notice to obtain a ‘Renovation License’ from the city which costs $700 (plus Harmonized Sales Tax) per rental unit.
The cost of this license will be adjusted yearly to keep up with inflation rates.

In order to acquire a renovation license, landlords must first get an approved building permit as well as an architect or engineer report which confirms that the home must be vacant for work to proceed.

Landlords would also be required to provide tenant accommodation or a compensation plan which includes moving costs.

“Protecting affordable, rent-controlled units that are the target for renovictions is a major step for our city and shows we can be a leader, not just in building housing, but in protecting the affordable housing we have,” said Fletcher.

The City of Toronto’s 2025 budget is now expected to include funding for a communications strategy that includes a multilingual public education campaign for Toronto tenants and landlords, ensuring all parties are aware of the changes and the new renoviction bylaw.

City staff have been directed to present a status update to Toronto Council on the implementation of the Rental Renovation Licence bylaw by July 31, 2027.

According to the city, this status update would include information on “the number of licences issued, tenant inquiries received, enforcement actions taken, communications strategies implemented, and recommendations for any amendments to the by-law”.

In the meantime, however, city staff’s report on the by-law’s implementation will go to the Planning and Housing Committee on Wednesday, Oct. 30 before being presented at full Toronto Council on Wednesday, Nov. 13, for a final decision.