Item - 2026.PH29.4

The Interim Executive Director, Municipal Licensing and Standards recommends that:

1. City Council establish a fee for reissuing an apartment building colour-coded sign and amend Toronto Municipal Code Chapter 441, Fees and Charges, Appendix C – Schedule 12, Municipal Licensing and Standards by adding the following fee shown in the table below:

2. City Council direct that the amendments to Toronto Municipal Chapter 441, Fees and Charges in Recommendation 1 come into effect on June 15, 2026.

3. City Council waive the fee in Recommendation 1 for the following social housing providers:

a. Toronto Community Housing Corporation;

b.  Non-profit providers of assisted or social housing under a program administered by the City of Toronto; and

c. Dedicated supportive housing providers funded by the Province of Ontario.

4. City Council authorize the Executive Director, Municipal Licensing and Standards, to waive the fee in Recommendation 1 on a case-by-case basis.

5. City Council amend the fees related to undertaking remedial work in Toronto Municipal Code Chapter 441, Fees and Charges, Appendix C – Schedule 12, Municipal Licensing and Standards by amending the fees and annual adjustments as shown in bold in the table below:

6. City Council direct that the amendments to Toronto Municipal Chapter 441, Fees and Charges in Recommendation 5 come into effect immediately.

7. City Council direct the Executive Director, Municipal Licensing and Standards to monitor the implementation of changes made to the RentSafeTO program, including changes to the building evaluation tool and colour-coded signage system and include data about colour-coded signage in future iterations of the RentSafeTO Annual report.

8. City Council direct the Executive Director, Municipal Licensing and Standards to continue ongoing tenant education and engagement through RentSafeTO to promote awareness of building maintenance standards, program updates, and the rights and responsibilities of tenants and building owners and operators.

Toronto Municipal Code Chapter 354, Apartment Buildings, outlines maintenance and operational standards for purpose-built rental buildings with three or more storeys and ten or more rental units. These standards are enforced through the City's RentSafeTO: Apartment Building Standards program, which aims to strengthen compliance with City bylaws, enhance tenant engagement and access to information, and promote proactive maintenance in apartment buildings to prevent the deterioration of critical housing stock.

At its meeting on April 17, 2024, City Council directed Municipal Licensing and Standards (MLS) to report back on several directives pertaining to the program, including the building evaluation tool, remedial action processes, and other program updates (2024.PH11.8). At its meeting on July 23, 2025, City Council further directed MLS to establish a colour-coded rating system and to report back in 2026 on an implementation plan for the system (2025.MM32.23). Bylaw amendments for the system were approved by Council on October 8, 2025, and will come into effect on June 15, 2026 (2025.CC33.25).

This report responds to Council direction by:

- Enhancing the design of the program’s building evaluation tool, including amending risk level weightings of higher risk building evaluation categories, extending re-evaluation timelines, increasing score deductions for active violations, incorporating reactive scores into the program’s audit threshold calculation, and changing the timing of audits and evaluations.

- Providing an update on the implementation of a colour-coded signage system for RentSafeTO, which will be in effect on June 15, 2026.

- Outlining the development of a remedial action framework to support MLS staff and prioritize addressing persistent non‑compliance.

- Summarizing actions taken to respond to other outstanding directives.

This report also proposes amendments to Chapter 441, Fees and Charges, to support the implementation of the colour-coded signage system and MLS’ remedial action framework.

This report recommends amending Chapter 441, Fees and Charges, to create a new cost-recovery fee to be used by RentSafeTO for the re-issuance of colour-coded signs, and to increase fees related to remedial work. The proposed cost recovery fee for re-issuance ranges from $42.73 to $46.81, depending on whether 1, 2 or 3 signs are being replaced. This fee would be waived for social housing providers or at the discretion of the Executive Director, Municipal Licensing and Standards in cases where lost and/or damaged signs are caused by recurring tenant activity. This fee is proposed to come into effect on June 15, 2026.

To support MLS’ expansion of remedial action, staff propose updates to fees associated with remedial work. The proposed cost recovery fees would be increased to ensure that they cover 20% of contract costs (applied to the upper limit of contract cost ranges) and would be subject to annual inflationary adjustments. As the fee for contract costs above $10,000 has no upper cost limit, this fee would be variable. This fee is proposed to come into effect immediately. There are no additional financial implications that result from the adoption of this staff report, or beyond what has already been approved in the 2026 budget.

As program changes are implemented, staff will monitor demands on City resources and request additional resources through future budget processes as required. The Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer has reviewed this report and agrees with the Financial Impact section.