Item - 2025.CC33.25

City Council on October 8 and 9, 2025, adopted the following:

1. City Council establish colour-coded signage by amending section 354-3.2 of Toronto Municipal Code Chapter 354, Apartment Buildings, as follows:

a. require apartment building owners and operators to post, in a conspicuous location satisfactory to the Executive Director near the entrance of each apartment building, colour-coded signage in a form satisfactory to the Executive Director reflecting the most recent colour category assigned to the apartment building by the Executive Director;

b. require apartment building owners and operators, where the Executive Director notifies them that the building score has changed such that the building falls under a different colour category, to replace the existing signage with signage that reflects the new colour category, within 14 calendar days of the Executive Director providing the notice; and

c. require apartment building owners and operators to inform tenants and prospective tenants of the colour-coded rating of the apartment building before a lease agreement is signed, on the signing of a lease agreement and annually thereafter and provide the colour-coded rating of the apartment building to any person on request.

2. City Council clarify the existing authority for the Executive Director, Municipal Licensing and Standards, to provide a rating system for buildings by adding a new section 354-5.1C as follows:

C. The Executive Director is authorized to establish an apartment building evaluation system based on the results of site visits, pre-audits, audits and/or any other inspection assessing an apartment building’s compliance with City by-laws and other applicable law, with such a building evaluation system including:

1. providing each apartment building an evaluation score which will be posted on the City’s website; and

2. developing a colour-coded rating system sorting apartment buildings into categories based on their compliance with City by-laws and other applicable law and providing each apartment building a colour-coded rating which the owner or operator must post in the apartment building.

3. City Council direct that the amendments to Toronto Municipal Code Chapter 354, Apartment Buildings, come into effect on June 15, 2026.

4. City Council request the Executive Director, Municipal Licensing and Standards to include contact information for tenants to report building issues to RentSafeTO, as part of the final RentSafeTO colour-coded signage design.