Attorney General Doug Downey says current system discourages landlords from renting out vacant units
Big changes could be coming to Ontario’s tenancy rules.
On Thursday, the Ford government introduced a wide-ranging bill that could set the stage for a major change to how landlords and tenants operate in the province.
Among its most consequential proposals is the launch of consultations on Ontario’s long-standing “security of tenure” rules — the foundation of tenant protections in the province.
Under current law, most tenants sign a fixed-term lease that automatically converts to a month-to-month tenancy when it expires. That arrangement allows tenants to stay in their homes indefinitely, unless a landlord has a legal reason to evict them, which includes the landlord moving in themselves or renovating the unit.
On Thursday, however, Attorney General Doug Downey said his government believes these rules may no longer be working.
“We’ve heard from stakeholders that these evergreen leases that just go on with no end in sight may not be appropriate,” he said.
He argued that many landlords are keeping units vacant because they fear being unable to regain possession.
“There are a lot of landlords that are not putting their units on the market. We need to get those units,” he said. “I’m convinced, if we get the right balance, we’ll unlock tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of new units.”
According to explanatory documents provided to reporters, potential changes could give landlords more “flexibility” to control who occupies their units and for how long, allowing them to “adjust tenancy arrangements based on market conditions, personal needs, or business strategies.”
For now, Downey said, the government is only exploring ideas. After studying how other jurisdictions handle leases, he said Ontario officials “weren’t confident we had the answer, and we only want to move with confidence.” He promised to “consult widely” before proposing any changes.
Eliminating “evergreen” month-to-month leases and security of tenure could potentially end the certainty of rent control in Ontario, which Ford’s Progressive Conservative government has already winnowed down.
In an early policy change, Ford’s government removed rent control on any unit first occupied after November 2018. Before that, all rental units in the province were bound by annual rent price increase maximums — meaning tenants’ rent cannot increase more than a few percentage points.
These terms keep rent increases fairly predictable for tenants who stay in their units. But when a unit becomes vacant, the rental price can increase by any amount.
What else is in the bill?
Other, more concrete changes proposed in Thursday’s bill include ending the requirement for landlords to compensate tenants if they or an immediate family member move back into their own property, as long as the tenant is given 120 days notice.
If the tenant is given less than 120 days notice, the landlord would still have to provide a comparable unit or one month’s worth of rent.
The bill also proposes further changes to how disputes work at the Landlord Tenant Board.
If passed, the legislation would require tenants to give advance notice of issues they plan to raise at a Landlord and Tenant Board hearing and wouldn’t be allowed to introduce new issues without providing prior warning.
Currently, tenants are allowed to bring up new issues on the day of their hearing. This can lead to cases getting adjourned while the new facts are considered, according to the province, delaying cases by between six weeks to 12 months.
The changes Downey teased were revealed in tandem with new omnibus legislation that the Ford government unveiled. Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Rob Flack tabled Bill 60, titled the Fighting Delays, Building Faster Act, on Thursday.
If passed, Bill 60 would also amend more than a dozen other existing major laws. Other marquee changes would affect how municipalities collect development charges, how the provincial government builds transit-oriented communities, and how Queen’s Park restricts bike lanes and encourages road-building.
The Ford government also announced it “intends to undertake a section-by-section review” of the province’s Building Code.
