Province looking to beef up protection for tenants

Steve Clark, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing speaking in London, Ont. on April 5, 2023.(Sean Irvine/CTV News London)

Proposed legislation in Ontario would see the government invest $6.5-million to increase the number of adjudicators and staff at the Landlord and Tenant Board to speed up decision timeframes

The money would be used to appoint an additional 40 adjudicators and hire five staff to improve service standards and continue to reduce active applications.

Speaking in London, Attorney General Doug Downey said, “Residents and rental housing providers deserve fast results, and government bureaucracy should not stand in the way.”

According to Downey, the hirings will also help the board become more efficient after seeing lengthy backlogs that build up during the pandemic.

Ontario says it will also make changes to protect renters against so-called renovictions.

If passed, landlords will be mandated to provide a report from a qualified person stating that the unit must be vacant to allow renovations to take place and provide the tenant with written updates on the status of the renovation.

The tenants would then have a 60-day grace period to move back into the unit once complete for the same rent they were paying before the renovations.

Steve Clark, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing also outlined a deadline for landlords to move into units they evict tenants for their own use, or the use of a family member.

—With files from CTV News Toronto's Hannah Alberga

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