Item - 2025.EX28.2

City Council considered the following items together:

EX28.2 headed “Status Update: Implementation of Ombudsman’s Recommendations and Council Directives on the City’s Response to a Vital Services Outage in a Multi-Tenant Home”; and

PH26.3 headed “Multi-Tenant Houses Regulatory Framework: Implementation Update”.

The Executive Committee recommends that:

1.  City Council receive the report (November 25, 2025) from the Interim Executive Director, Municipal Licensing and Standards, the Executive Director, Housing Secretariat and the Executive Director, Toronto Emergency Management for information.

In May 2025, City Council adopted recommendations from the Ombudsman related to the City’s response to a six-month vital services outage in an unlicensed multi-tenant house (MTH) in 2023, and provided additional directives to staff to ensure supports are in place for tenants (2025.CC30.3).

In September 2023, following a fire in a multi-tenant home, utility providers shut off natural gas and some of the electricity. Tenants called the City for assistance to restore vital services, and ten of the eleven tenants ended up moving out as the outage lasted for six months.  

Addressing vital services disruptions to prevent tenant displacement, and supporting those who become displaced, is a multi-divisional collaborative effort by Municipal Licensing and Standards (MLS), the Housing Secretariat (HS), and Toronto Emergency Management (TEM). Other divisions with roles in responding to a vital service outage, uninhabitable housing, and tenant displacement include Social Development (SD), the Customer Experience Division (CXD), Toronto Fire Services (TFS), Toronto Building (TB), and Toronto Shelter and Support Services (TSSS).

The Ombudsman identified concerns over the adequacy and timeliness of the City’s response and made 27 recommendations, all of which were adopted by Council. These are aimed at improving policies and procedures, staff training and supervision, and responses to vital service outages for MLS, as well as clarifying programs and improving service standards for the EPIC program. City Council provided an additional 6 directives to Municipal Licensing and Standards, Housing Secretariat, Toronto Emergency Management and Customer Experience Division largely around supporting tenants in the event of displacement.

This report provides an update on the inter-divisional work to support the implementation of the Ombudsman’s recommendations and related Council directives. City staff are working closely with the Ombudsman’s Office on implementation, and all recommended actions are either completed or underway. In response to the recommendations, staff have strengthened enforcement processes, improved staff training, and are establishing stronger protocols for interdivisional coordination to better protect tenants affected by vital services disruptions.