Item - 2021.RH5.3

The Subcommittee on the Protection of Affordable Rental Housing recommends that:  

1. The Planning and Housing Committee direct staff to report to a December meeting of the Subcommittee, or sooner to the Planning and Housing Committee, with a proposed Renovictions Policy and accompanying procedures for consideration, having regard for best practices from other jurisdictions as applicable; and provide an interim report on those best practices to the Planning and Housing Committee in Fall of 2021.

2. The Planning and Housing Committee request Executive Director, Housing Secretariat to continue to work to strengthen interim eviction prevention measures, including considering expediting the creation of the Housing-At-Risk Table, and to develop tools to monitor the volume and nature of evictions and provide an update to the Planning and Housing Committee on September 21, 2021.
 

3. The Planning and Housing Committee request the Executive Director, Housing Secretariat in consultation with the Chair, Subcommittee on the Protection of Affordable Rental Housing to establish a working group on tenant eviction prevention, which may include tenant protection Legal Aid Clinics, to a meeting to discuss the establishment of renovictions policies, having regard to the New Westminster, British Columbia model for Toronto.

A key strategic action identified in the HousingTO 2020-2030 Action Plan ("HousingTO Plan") is to prevent homelessness and improve pathways to housing stability for residents across the city. This strategic action reflects community concerns about an increasing trend of illegitimate evictions. Renovictions in particular, where a landlord issues a N13 eviction notice to a tenant under the guise of undertaking renovations but does not follow the requirements of the Residential Tenancies Act, including refusing to allow the tenant to return post-renovation, have been on the rise resulting in the displacement of tenants and the permanent loss of affordable rental housing.

At the September 24, 2020 meeting of the Subcommittee on the Protection of Affordable Rental Housing, the Subcommittee requested staff to report back on the progress made on steps to mitigate illegitimate evictions. On May 20, 2021, the Planning and Housing Committee directed staff to evaluate the New Westminster, BC by-law addressing renovictions and outline how it could be adapted for Toronto.

This report responds to the Subcommittee and Committee's requests and provides a preliminary analysis of the New Westminster, BC by-law and its transferability to a Toronto and Ontario context. Additional jurisdictional scans for creative policy approaches will continue and considered for possible application in Toronto, and a proposed renovictions policy for Toronto will be reported to the Committee by the end of 2021.

Over the upcoming months, staff will work with the Tenant Advisory Committee and other stakeholders to develop a future City of Toronto renovictions policy and a set of accompanying procedures/actions for implementation. This work would include determining municipal authority and permissions, as well as identifying resource implications and tenant impacts. Elements of a future policy to be considered  includes tenant support and capacity building; assessing and leveraging city authorities to deter renovictions; landlord eligibility for city programs/incentives that encourage investment in existing purpose-built rental housing; the establishment of a housing-at-risk working table; proactive data-driven responses; intergovernmental advocacy and collaboration; housing sector collaboration; and ongoing policy/program evaluation and improvement.

In addition to the above, this report summarizes work completed to date to address illegitimate evictions including setting up an interdivisional staff working group; the establishment of the new Tenant Advisory Committee; developing a new online portal for tenants and an evictions toolkit; expansion of the City's Tenant Defence Fund; and increased funding to Federation of Metro Tenants' Associations (FMTA) to support work related to illegitimate evictions. Additional work is currently underway across City divisions to develop new or enhance existing policies and programs that assist renters.

The report also proposes an interim process to leverage the work of the Outreach and Organizing Program which would identify potential illegitimate renovictions for City staff. An interdivisional staff table would then be convened regularly to review cases where there are suspected illegitimate evictions and to identify any actions that the City could take within its jurisdiction, to support tenant and/or City action on illegitimate evictions.