Item - 2026.EX29.14

REVISED

That City Council amend Executive Committee Recommendation 4 by deleting the words "CUPE 416" before the words "to tap" and replacing them with the words "city staff and labour partners" so that it now reads as follows:

1. City Council request the Housing Secretariat lead the delivery of remedial action at 500 Dawes Road, as is determined to be appropriate, in order to facilitate the leveraging of assistance from City partners including Toronto Community Housing Corporation and CUPE 416 city staff and labour partners to tap into the vast database of vendors and resources available to the City of Toronto to support remedial action as appropriate; and further, use the ongoing remedial action at 500 Dawes Road to inform the policy framework coming to City Council in April 2026, including demonstrating the most effective methods used to engage residents at 500 Dawes Road on coordinated pest abatement measures.

That:

1. City Council request the Executive Director, Housing Secretariat to coordinate consultation with tenant advocacy organizations in the process of building the portal and to conduct user experience consultations with tenants and advocacy organizations once the portal is completed.
 

2. City Council direct the Executive Director, Municipal Licensing and Standards to review how landlords could be required to provide tenants with notice when their building is going to be before the Property Standards Committee with information and instructions on how they can participate in the process, and to include this information in a future RentSafeTO update.

That:

1. City Council amend Executive Committee Recommendation 4 by:

a. adding the words ", in consultation with relevant divisions, to" after the words "request the Housing Secretariat";

b. deleting the word "lead the delivery of remedial action" and replacing them with the words "coordinate the delivery of potential remedial action";

c. deleting the words "in order to facilitate the leveraging of assistance from City partners including" and replacing them with the words "by divisions with enforcement authorities, and leverage the vast database of vendors and resources available to the City of Toronto through the";

d. deleting the words "to tap into the vast database of vendors and resources available to the City of Toronto to support remedial action";

e. deleting the words "and further, use the ongoing" and replacing them with the words "use any ongoing"; and

f. deleting the word "policy" before the word "framework" and replacing it with the words "remedial action"

so that Recommendation 4 reads as follows:

4. City Council request the Housing Secretariat, in consultation with relevant divisions, to lead coordinate the delivery of potential remedial action at 500 Dawes Road, as is determined to be appropriate, in order to facilitate the leveraging of assistance from City partners including by divisions with enforcement authorities, and leverage the vast database of vendors and resources available to the City of Toronto through the Toronto Community Housing Corporation and CUPE 416 to tap into the vast database of vendors and resources available to the City of Toronto to support remedial action as appropriate; use the any ongoing remedial action at 500 Dawes Road to inform the policy remedial action framework coming to City Council in April 2026, including demonstrating the most effective methods used to engage residents at 500 Dawes Road on coordinated pest abatement measures.

2. City Council amend Executive Committee Recommendation 5 by:

a. deleting the words "Executive Director, Housing Secretariat" and replace them with the words "City Manager or designate";

b. adding the words "deliver any remedial action at 500 Dawes Road as determined to be appropriate by divisions with enforcement authorities" after the words "required to"; and

c. deleting the words "implement Recommendation 4 above";

so that Recommendation 5 now reads as follows:

5. City Council authorize the City Manager or designate to negotiate and enter into any agreements required to deliver any remedial action at 500 Dawes Road as determined to be appropriate by divisions with enforcement authorities. 

That:

1. City Council request the Province to amend the Building Code Act, 1992, to eliminate the rights of appeal under section 15.3 and have property standards orders be confirmed as final and binding after the expiry of the time to comply set out by enforcement officers in the order; in the alternative, if the appeal processes remain, request the province amend the Building Code Act, 1992 to reduce the 14-day appeal periods in section 15.3 to seven days or less.

2. City Council request the Province to amend the Building Code Act, 1992, to increase the maximum fines possible for violations of property standards by-laws and property standards orders.

3. City Council request the Province to enact a regulation to define “immediate danger to the health or safety of any person” as that phrase is used in section 15.7 to clarify that the City may exercise its emergency order power in cases where long-standing noncompliance with property standards may be causing health and safety impacts to tenants.

4. City Council request the Province to enact a regulation which makes non-conformity with a standard prescribed in a property standards by-law an offence under section 36 of the Building Code Act, 1992, so that the City can lay charges without issuing an order.

5. City Council request the Province to enact a regulation which makes it a continuing offence to not comply with a confirmed property standards order, and designate each day noncompliance continues as an offence under section 36 of the Building Code Act, 1992.

6. City Council reiterate its requests to the Government of Canada and the Government of Ontario to significantly increase their investment in the HousingTO 2020-2030 Action Plan which will increase the supply of new affordable and supportive homes, protect existing rental stock, including through retrofit programs, and help residents across the City to maintain their existing home.

7. City Council reiterate its requests to the Government of Ontario to amend the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, and/or related regulations to:

a. reintroduce vacancy control legislation which ties rents to residential units rather than tenancies;

b. introduce rent control to cover units first occupied after November 15, 2018;

c. require landlords of residential units to be responsible for finding temporary accommodation or provide sufficient relocation assistance for their tenants for the duration of the renovations if tenants intend to return post-repair/renovation;

d. require landlords to obtain a building permit before issuing an N13 notice of termination, provide a copy of the applicable permit to tenants together with any N13 notice of termination, require evidence that the permit was delivered with the N13 notice of termination as part of any L2 application to end a tenancy filed on that basis, and require the approved permit be provided to the Landlord and Tenant Board as part of any L2 application to end a tenancy filed on the basis of an N13 notice of termination;

e. provide the same rights and compensation afforded to tenants in buildings with five (5) or more units to those in buildings with less than five (5) units;

f. increase the required compensation for tenants in no-fault evictions;

g. remove ex parte eviction orders for breached repayment agreements;

h. require landlords to attach a plain-language tenants’ rights information package to N13 eviction notices (similar to the City of Toronto's Eviction Prevention Handbook);

i. regulate N11s and buy-out agreements;

j. amend Above Guideline Increase rules to eliminate the eligibility of capital expenditures that constitute general repair and maintenance of the property; add a new subsection requiring landlords to save 10 percent of rental income to be accessed for capital expenditures; and require landlords to notify tenants of the decrease in advance of the date when rent is required to be reduced as specified in an order permitting an Above Guideline Increase related to eligible capital expenses; and

k. prohibit the use of algorithmic software that utilizes non-public competitor data to set market rents.

8. City Council reiterate its request to the Government of Ontario to make the following operational changes:
 

a. allow tenants the right to in-person Landlord and Tenant Board hearings to eliminate technological barriers for individuals who do not have access to digital devices or reliable internet connection;

b. simplify Landlord and Tenant Board notices with plain language so they are easily understood and ensure all forms include a tracking number that is linked to a public registry; and

c. establish a provincial rental registry that tracks building ownership, rental rates, Above Guideline Increases and their expiry dates, and Landlord and Tenant Board eviction filings and their outcomes, and monitor data on N12 and N13 evictions.

9. City Council request the Government of Ontario to proclaim and bring into force Bill 97, Helping Homebuyers, Protecting Tenants Act, 2023, and/or related regulations that would complement Toronto’s existing Renoviction By-law and expand protections across Ontario to:

a. require that when landlords provide a notice to terminate a tenancy for repairs or renovations, that it be accompanied by a report from a qualified person confirming that the renovations/repairs are so extensive that they require vacant possession of the rental unit; a qualified person should include someone with professional qualifications who is licensed and required to meet professional and ethical obligations under provincial legislation (e.g., architects and professional engineers);

b. require landlords to provide tenants who have provided notice that they wish to have a right of first refusal to return to the unit with written notice of the estimated completion date, any changes to this date, and final notification once the renovations/repairs are completed;

c. require landlords to provide tenants with a grace period of at least 60 days after the rental unit is ready for occupancy, to allow tenants to move back in and provide the required 60-day notice to end their tenancy in their temporary accommodation; and

d. allow tenants whose landlords fail to provide the required written notices, the grace period and/or the right of first refusal to apply to the Landlord and Tenant Board for a remedy until the later of two years after the tenant moved out or six months after renovations/repairs are completed.

10. City Council request the Province of Ontario to amend the Residential Tenancies Act to allow municipalities to provide copies of Property Standard Orders and any other order impacting the building in relation to properties where there are residential tenancies to the Landlord and Tenant Board and upon receipt of a City issued order require the Landlord and Tenant Board provide an order to the landlord requiring the landlord to provide notice of the Property Standards Order to all tenants and include information to all tenants about their rights under the Residential Tenancies Act, including rent abatement processes.

That in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 27, Council Procedures, City Council reconsider the vote on Item EX29.14 as amended.

Councillor Perks, on a Point of Privilege, stated that Councillor Matlow had remarked that moving this to the Housing Secretariat overcomes a culture of treating the landlord as a client and that the implication being that other divisions in the Toronto public service have not taken seriously the rights of tenants and would like Councillor Matlow to withdraw his remarks.  Councillor Perks further stated that the Public Service in every branch uses the tools that are available to them to enforce regulations and that the fundamental problem is that Provincial legislation limits what the City is able to do, and profoundly resents any Member of this Council implying that members of the Toronto Public Service have not treated tenants with the respect their are due.

Councillor Perks, on a Point of Privilege, stated that public servants cannot stand up and defend themselves, and Members of Council may ask Members to withdraw remarks that impugne the motivation, reputation and work of the Toronto Public Service and on that basis asked Councillor Matlow, understanding that Councillor Matlow is passionate about the issue, to withdraw that implication.

Councillor Fletcher, on a Point of Privilege, stated that the notion that it was deliberate versus the notion that it somehow is not a Council priority, is what this issue is and asked if Councillor Matlow could clarify his remarks.

Councillor Matlow, on a Point of Privilege, stated that he was repeating the term “landloard as a client” as it is what has been heard from tenants/deputations and that it was not to point fingers at any specific staff.  Councillor Matlow further stated that the change to the focus on housing gives the message that tenants are the priority.