Toronto council votes to oppose Bill 60, saying it could increase evictions, weaken tenant rights
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Toronto councillors have voted to voice their opposition to Doug Ford government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act (RTA), saying they threaten to weaken renters’ rights and increase homelessness in the city.
Late last month, the Ford government introduced Bill 60, dubbed the Fighting Delays, Building Faster Act, another series of proposed changes aimed at making conditions more favourable for builders in the province to address the housing crisis.
Mayor Olivia Chow, who introduced the motion Wednesday to oppose the bill, said the proposed legislation would be harmful to the roughly half of Torontonians who rent housing.
“We should ask other municipalities to join us and let us do everything we can to lessen the impact this bill would have to Toronto’s renters, because they deserve fairness,” she said. “They deserve civility and security, just like everybody else does.”
The omnibus bill immediately drew criticism from housing advocates and others, and shortly after the province walked back part of the bill that may have ended rent control and indefinite leases in the future.
Bill could cause evictions to rise, says city staffer
But Chow said other proposed changes, which the province says would speed reduce a backlog at the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) and increase rental housing supply, remain concerning for the security of tenants.
They include giving tenants less time to appeal decisions at the LTB, and landlords a shorter timeline to have eviction proceedings heard. Also, landlords would no longer be required to compensate tenants evicted so the owners or their family could move in, providing proper notice.
In a letter sent to council Monday, the executive director of the city’s housing secretariat, Doug Rollins, said the “13 tenancy-related initiatives” in the bill would increase the likelihood of evictions in Toronto and the province, and could add pressures to city programs for eviction prevention services, housing stability and financial support.
“They limit renter’s rights to effectively protect their tenancies, appeal decisions, access legal resources, and obtain financial compensation to find new homes in an unaffordable rental market,” Rollins wrote.
At Wednesday’s council meeting, several councillors decried the province’s thinking on the bill, saying it was irresponsible during a housing crisis.
“If the people of Toronto don’t want to see more people on the street they need to stand with council on this,” Coun. Alejandra Bravo told council.
Coun. Josh Matlow said the Progressive Conservative government was putting the financial well-being of members and friends above the well-being and affordability needs of the average Ontarian.
“By removing those protections, it would leave tenants across Ontario in a situation where they would be even more vulnerable,” he said.
Councillors voted 23 to one (with two abstensions) to inform the province that council opposes the bill’s proposed changes to the RTA, “and the weakening of tenant rights including contemplated changes to ‘security of tenure’ or a further weakening of rent control.”
The lone holdout, Coun. Stephen Holyday, said council should consider that the province is trying to incentivize developers to build much-needed rental housing.
He said council was lamenting “how hard and how expensive it is to create housing and find housing,” while also fighting the province as it tries to “make any changes to make it more easy to build something, and more sensible to build something.”
Among other things, the successful motion also directs council to reiterate the city’s request that the province implement rent control for rental homes built after 2018, and direct the city solicitor to review legal options to protect renters and challenge provisions of Bill 60, including potential Charter protections.
