Item - 2024.MM14.2

City Council on February 6 and 7, 2024, adopted the following:

1. City Council request the Government of Ontario to take the following mitigation steps:  

a. make in-person hearings the default format while providing the choice of digital or virtual hearings if both parties agree and clearly understand the process;

b. develop clear guidelines that are easily accessible that outline how to request a change in format for a hearing or identify challenges during a virtual hearing;

c. consult with legal clinics, tenant advocate groups, people with lived experience and landlords in advance of making digital hearings an option to ensure challenges that surfaced using the digital method are addressed; and

d. restore and enhance funding for legal aid clinics so that tenants have the support required to participate meaningfully and with support if needed in Landlord and Tenant Board proceedings.

2. City Council request the Government of Ontario to immediately move forward on all 61 recommendations of the Ontario Ombudsman’s Report.

3. City Council request the Landlord and Tenant Board to bring back regional scheduling to improve access to housing and homelessness supports, to provide better service for people living with poverty who do not have sufficient broadband or devices to participate in virtual hearings, people who do not speak French or English, survivors of intimate partner violence where home is not a safe space to conduct a hearing, and individuals with disability, literacy, or numeracy challenges, and so that Adjudicators will have increased familiarity with the community.

4. City Council request the Landlord and Tenant Board to reopen counter services at Toronto South Office at 15 Grosvenor Street and Toronto East Office at 2275 Midland Ave and all Landlord and Tenant Board regional offices so that Landlord and Tenant Board staff can: provide parties with documents on the day of the hearing; can provide immediate support to parties for emergency matters; minimize delays as documents can be reviewed for minor errors when they are filed; and provide support for applicants and respondents in-person and refer parties to appropriate resources.