The Ontario government has announced a $6.5 million investment to bolster support for tenants in the province. The funding aims to increase the number of adjudicators and staff at the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) to improve service and reduce case backlogs. An additional 40 adjudicators and five staff members will be appointed to help speed up decision timeframes.
The LTB is responsible for resolving disputes between landlords and tenants and managing eviction applications filed by non-profit housing co-operatives under the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006. The board has been criticized for delayed resolutions, with some complainants reporting wait times of seven to eight months or even longer.
The new investment will more than double the number of full-time adjudicators at the LTB, which will reduce caseloads for existing staff and potentially speed up dispute resolutions.
According to a media release, the Ontario government is also working on enhancing tenant protections. Proposed changes include making it easier for tenants to install air conditioning in their units, strengthening protections against evictions due to renovations, demolitions, and conversions, and improving the landlord’s own use protections.
Under the proposed changes, landlords would need to provide a report from a qualified person stating that a unit must be vacant for renovations to take place when evicting tenants for renovation purposes. They would also need to keep tenants informed of renovation status in writing and provide a 60-day grace period for tenants to move back in once renovations are complete. If a landlord does not allow a tenant to move back in at the same rent, the tenant would have two years after moving out or six months after renovations are complete (whichever is longer) to apply for a remedy at the LTB.
The proposed changes also include the creation of a more balanced framework governing municipal rental replacement by-laws. For instance, the government is considering requiring replacement units to have the same core features, such as the number of bedrooms, as original units. Existing tenants would have the right to move into the new unit while paying the same rent.
Lastly, the government is proposing to double the maximum fines for Residential Tenancies Act offences to $100,000 for individuals and $500,000 for corporations. This proposal aims to deter bad-faith renovictions and other violations of tenants’ rights.
“Residents and rental housing providers deserve fast results, and government bureaucracy should not stand in the way,” said Attorney General Doug Downey.
