City staff unveil draft renovictions bylaw to protect tenants

Toronto city staff unveiled a draft renovictions bylaw to protect tenants from unlawful evictions on Wednesday, set to be considered by city council in November. 

Renovictions are when a landlord illegitimately evicts a tenant by alleging "vacant possession" of a rental unit is required to do renovations or repairs, according to a city staff report. 

They can include refusing to allow a tenant who has exercised their right of first refusal to return post-renovation, illegally raising rent for a returning tenant or not undertaking major renovations after evicting renters, the report says. 

"It's been a cruel and unfair and unjust way of treating people in the city of Toronto who rent their homes," said Coun. Gord Perks, chair of the planning and housing committee, speaking at Toronto City Hall on Wednesday.

In Toronto's housing market, renovictions can force people to move out of the city or become homeless, Perks said.

The planning and housing committee will consider the report for adoption on Oct. 30, before referring it to city council. 

The staff report recommends the renovictions bylaw take effect July 31 next year. The bylaw will be implemented and enforced by the Toronto Building division.

Landlords will need to obtain rental renovation licence 

According to the draft bylaw, Toronto landlords will be required to apply for a rental renovation licence with the city within seven days of issuing an N13 notice, which is provided by the province, to end tenancy. The licence will cost $700 per unit. 

The staff report proposes creating a public registry for the licences so that tenants can track renovation processes, including the status of the licence and expected timelines for renovation work. 

Landlords must also submit a report to the city from a "qualified person" identifying that the renovation or maintenance work is so extensive that the tenant must leave the unit. 

The report generally defines qualified persons as someone licensed by the Professional Engineers of Ontario or the Ontario Architects Association. 

Landlords must post a tenant information notice at the affected units to inform tenants about the licence application and enable them to seek information about their rights. 

For tenants who choose to return to their units, landlords must provide a plan with temporary, comparable housing at similar rents. 

If tenants are finding their own temporary housing, landlords will be required to provide monthly rent-gap payments to cover the rent difference. 

They must also provide moving allowances to all tenants and provide severance compensation for tenants who choose not to return to the unit after the work is completed. 

Moving allowances will be $1,500 for studio or one-bedroom units and $2,500 for units with two or more bedrooms, adjusted annually based on cost of living, according to a briefing presentation by city staff. 

Violations of the bylaw may result in fines up to $100,000 and "equivalent to the economic benefit gained from non-compliance," the briefing presentation said. 

The bylaw covers all rental units in Toronto with exceptions for the following: residential premises licensed by the federal or provincial governments, city operated shelters, college or university student residents, non-profit co-operative student residences, hotels and motels. 

Bylaw designed after speaking to tenants and landlords 

The bylaw was designed after public engagement with tenants and landlords in the city, said Kamal Gogna, interim chief building official and executive director of Toronto Building.  

He said there was "broad support" from tenants for the bylaw, while some landlords voiced concerns about the additional administration and financial burdens under the draft bylaw. 

Both landlords and tenants said the city should provide multilingual guidelines and clear support documents to make compliance easier, he said. 

The staff report also asks the city council to direct the development of a public education campaign for Toronto tenants and landlords, informing them about the bylaw. 

Mayor Olivia Chow attended the media availability on Wednesday, thanking city staff, tenant activists and Coun. Paula Fletcher for their work on the bylaw. 

"This bylaw will protect tenants from needless evictions," Chow said. "It will end the practice of using renovations as an excuse to evict tenants, so that they can escape the rent control law." 

Fletcher, who represents Toronto-Danforth, said she's worked on the issue of renovictions for five years, with advocacy groups including Don Valley Community Legal Services, Federation of Metro Tenants' Association and ACORN. 

She invited some activists to stand next to her during Wednesday's media availability. 

"This is our bylaw, this is not just the city's bylaw," Fletcher said. 

In June, city council directed staff to develop a renovictions bylaw and implementation framework similar to that in Hamilton, Ont. Hamilton was the first municipality in the province to pass a bylaw requiring landlords to obtain a licence before doing renovations that required evicting tenants, staff said in their report.