The HousingTO 2020-2030 Action Plan and Toronto Housing Charter, both adopted in 2019, commit the City to advancing the progressive realization of the right to adequate housing and set a number of strategic priorities related to protecting tenants, preserving affordable housing supply, and realizing a vision of a city where everyone has a safe, affordable place to call home. City Council has recently increased its housing targets under the HousingTO Plan, however, to ensure the City has sufficient affordable rental homes for low- and moderate-income residents, it is also vital to preserve existing affordable rental homes. As a result of factors impacting Toronto's housing market, including low rental vacancy rates, insufficient new rental homes, and the financialization of housing, over the past decade the Toronto region has lost more affordable and mid-range rental homes than have been built. These housing market pressures combined with gaps in provincial rent control requirements have resulted in increased rates of evictions, with disproportionate impacts on low-income and marginalized residents, including those from equity-deserving groups. There have been reports of a growing trend of renovictions in Toronto, where a landlord illegitimately evicts a tenant by alleging that vacant possession of a rental unit is needed to undertake renovations or repairs. Renovictions can include refusing to allow a tenant who has exercised their right of first refusal to return post-renovation, illegally raising the rent on a returning tenant, or not undertaking major renovations after evicting renters. This results in the displacement of tenants, the permanent loss of affordable market rental housing, and contributes to rising homelessness in Toronto. The Province of Ontario has jurisdiction over rent control policy and landlord-tenant matters through the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006. The most effective tools to protect tenants and deter renovictions reside at the provincial level. City Council has previously requested that the Province introduce measures to amend provincial legislation to protect tenants from renovictions, including but not limited to: introducing rent control that is maintained upon turnover of a unit, requiring landlords to provide temporary relocation assistance while renovations are taking place, and creating a centralized data system and registry for rental properties and eviction activities in Toronto. In the absence of these changes, Toronto and other cities are considering steps to address the growing trend of renovictions within their authorities. On July 19, 2022, City Council, through Item PH35.18, adopted a Renovictions Policy as a framework to guide the development of a new renovictions by-law that would respond to growing trends in illegitimate evictions, protect tenants, and preserve affordable housing supply. In January 2024, the City of Hamilton adopted a Renovation Licence and Tenant Relocation By-law (“Hamilton by-law“) that aims to prevent renovictions and mitigate harms to tenants by requiring a licence to renovate tenanted rental units. The by-law includes several new requirements of landlords to achieve these objectives and establishes a dedicated investigation, compliance, and enforcement framework. The Hamilton by-law was enacted on April 10, 2024, and the administrative and enforcement framework are under development. The Hamilton by-law is expected to come into force January 1, 2025. On February 28, 2024, the Planning and Housing Committee directed staff to include in this report consideration and analysis of the Hamilton by-law and how that approach could be adopted by Toronto. This report responds to this direction and provides staff’s analysis of implementation considerations related to the Hamilton by-law. Further comments respecting the by-law will be provided by the City Solicitor by way of a separate report. It also provides City Council with an update on actions underway to implement the renovictions policy and corresponding by-law, and provides necessary context regarding provincial policy and legislative changes impacting renovictions and tenants’ rights (including Provincial Bill 97, Helping Homebuyers, Protecting Tenants Act, 2023). Finally, the report provides Council with information on how the Hamilton by-law approach could be implemented in Toronto, should Council provide such direction.
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