Toronto moves towards stronger protections against renoviction

Kim Breland, a senior member of the public, shared that she has already been renovicted three times and that she would be homeless if she was renovicted a fourth time. Since COVID-19, her building had been sold to people who she said “became millionaires off of making people homeless.” She said landlords have sent the police to tenants’ units to say that they were “harassing” the landlords for speaking up against their treatment. She said high fines were important to ensure that the bylaws are enforced since current provincial laws have not been sufficient to protect tenants.

Marcia Stone, chair of ACORN’s Weston chapter, stated that this bylaw means a lot to their tenants, members and other people across this country. She said that this bylaw requiring landlords to apply for a license will catch the bad-faith actors and allow enforcement against corporate landlords who use tenants as “commodities.” She added that the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) is not in favour of tenants; rather it is “like an ATM machine for landlords.” She said that the LTB was effectively working in favour of the profits of landlords by simply approving N13s. 

Sara Beyer, a Manager of Policy at the Canadian Centre for Housing Rights, said that renovictions have increased across Ontario with the highest number of N13s filed in Toronto. She said people who are low income and racialized are facing the brunt of this crisis. 

Karly Wilson, a housing lawyer for Don Valley Community Legal Services, stated that there was a “room full of tenants that feel heard” and a city full of tenants that are going to benefit from this bylaw. However, she expressed concern that one of the clauses could be abused by bad faith landlords. She stated that the “Emergency health and safety issue” exemption should be removed because of vague language. She said that abusive and coercive tactics can be used with this loophole and health and safety hazards can be deliberately created for tenants by the landlord. 

Josh Matlow, councillor for Toronto-St.Paul’s ward, in response to Wilson, stated that they would remove the clause. 

The committee did, in fact, remove the “loophole” section which would provide landlords an exemption if there was an “emergency health and safety issue.” They then approved the motion. 

What does our Documenter have to say? 

Working at the Fort York Food Bank (FYFB) on College street, I’ve heard many stories from community members about renovictions and demovictions that they’ve dealt with. 

While listening to the different speakers at the meeting, I was reminded of the story a friend and volunteer at FYFB had told me. She’s lived in an apartment building near College street and Spadina avenue for over 15 years, over which she has had many landlords. She said the first landlords were “family owners” and “relaxed.” If tenants were a couple of days behind on rent, they would be flexible. But then the building was sold and then it was sold again and again. Now, it is owned by the multinational corporation Akelius, which has an automatic system that will begin sending you notices for failure to pay rent. 

Another FYFB volunteer had recommended that my friend go to the Kensington Bellwoods Community Legal Services (KBCLS), who helped her with her case at the LTB. She was not evicted, but continues to face issues with her landlord. For tenants in Akelius’s buildings, this notoriously includes the ever-looming threat of Above Guideline Increases (AGI’s).