Implement vacancy control to ensure that rents aren’t raised substantially between tenancies.
Ban Above Guideline Increases in rent (AGIs) to close the loophole that allows for excessive rent hikes above annual rent control guidelines.
For AGIs that have already been approved, the onus of enforcing rent reductions after the AGIs expire should be on the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) and landlord, not the tenants.
Resume LTB hearings in-person and stop digital, phone and written hearings unless preferred by the tenant.
Overhaul the LTB as it is has become an eviction factory. Meanwhile, tenants wait three times as long to have their cases against their landlords heard.
Retain and protect current affordable housing stock by incentifying investment in repairs.
Give cities the explicit power to properly regulate problematic landlords (similar to other businesses) through licensing, pro-active inspections, minimum standards, strict timelines for repairs and serious penalties.
Give cities the explicit power to create rent escrow accounts so that tenants could pay their rent into the city when needed repairs (outlined in municipal bylaws) aren’t being done. This would allow cities to use that money to complete the repairs.
Introduce a renoviction ban based on the model in BC. This would mean banning evictions for cosmetic renovations. If structural renovations are needed then the landlord must:
Prove the renovations require the unit to be vacant
Provide tenants temporary accommodations or a rental top up
Cover moving costs
Allow tenants to return after renovations at the same rent
Stop predatory corporate landlords from using N12 eviction notices (landlords’ own use) to renovict tenants by:
Increasing notice and compensation requirements
Banning the use of N12s by corporate landlords and in multi-unit buildings
Change the process for filing and proving a bad faith eviction case at the LTB as the burden currently rests primarily on the tenant
Ban “cash for keys” or voluntary evictions and strongly enforce.
The current housing supply being built isn’t affordable. We need affordable (30% of one’s income) and accessible housing for those in core housing need and a real plan to get it done. That means:
Investing in the development of non-market rental housing including social housing, non-profits, co-ops and land trusts to eliminate the province’s 136,600 long waitlist for affordable housing.
Supporting the acquisition of existing affordable rental buildings to prevent them from falling into the hands of Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs)
Giving cities the power to expand the Vacant Unit Tax beyond single-family homes to include empty apartments and commercial spaces, with no cap on the number of units it applies to in a single building. Revenues generated from VUT should fund the development of non-market housing.
Allow for more affordable housing to be built in new developments by giving cities the power to create their own IZ programs based on local conditions.
Remove restrictions on IZ policies that:
Prevent it from being applied citywide
Cap affordable housing at 5%
Allow affordable housing to expire and return to market rates
Define affordable housing based on market rents instead of income
Start a Rental Registry in Ontario that tracks the rents of individual units. Information on rents should be mandatory and publicly accessible to prevent rent gouging and enforce tenant protections.
Grant collective bargaining and organizing rights to tenant unions that would:
Force landlord disclosure so tenants know who their property owner is, not just the property manager.
Give tenant unions the ability to negotiate agreements with the landlord that cap rent increases, address outstanding repairs and/or resolve other tenant issues.
Require landlords to meet with tenant unions a minimum of several times a year, and if a landlord fails to do so, tenants can petition for a rent decrease.
Protect tenants from being targeted for organizing.
More severe penalties and fines for landlords that interfere with tenant organizing (ex. Removing flyers, disrupting tenant meetings)
Increase the housing allowance to match market rent (based on the city the recipient lives in).
Stop the Province’s “New Vision” for Social Assistance
The implementation of the province’s new vision for social assistance transformation needs to be stopped. The emphasis is on working with municipalities to develop Ontario’s social assistance system into a modern, digitized system and getting more people in employment.
However, the new “human-services” model is not based on humans but a completely digitized system with no acknowledgment of the fact that many people don't have access to the internet or lack digital literacy skills.
It wants to push a lot of responsibility to the cities. Importantly, this will also mean a modified model of funding.
There is an overemphasis on moving people on ODSP to employment. so Many people on ODSP have already been deemed unable to work and this new model is to kick more people off ODSP under the guise of employment and independence.
Stop Clawbacks
Stop clawbacks on spousal income and spousal benefits.
Extend repayment using a model similar to Alberta’s repayment extension of 42 - 60 days versus the usual 14 day payback.
Enforcement
Enforce the ban on rollover loans by creating a user real-time database to monitor and avoid rollovers from company to company
Ensure enforcement of the criminal interest rate for payday and instalment loans by creating a robust complaint mechanism so that people can challenge the lenders who are ripping off people.
Fair Banking
Support the creation of alternative, low or zero interest loan products.
Direct the Ontario Coroner’s Office to track heat-related deaths, illnesses and emergency room visits.
Require landlords to maintain their buildings at temperatures below 26 degrees celsius.
Require landlords to have backup power systems in their buildings that are capable of running an elevator and water pump in the event of a power outage.
Financial support for low and moderate income households impacted by natural disasters (ex. Flooding, storms, power outages, extreme heat events).
Expand Ontario’s Energy Affordability Program:
Include all rental buildings so more tenants can access free heat pumps.
The program also provides energy efficient air conditioners for tenants in larger buildings but only if AC already exists in the unit. In the event that installing a heat pump is not possible within a reasonable timeframe, tenants without AC should be provided with new energy efficient air conditioners.
Energy Efficiency
Fund retrofits in rental housing of all types. This must include:
Affordability and anti-eviction covenants in all public retrofit programs and partnerships.
Agreements signed between the landlord, financing agency and tenants similar to a Community Benefits Agreement.
Make energy efficiency data publicly accessible and granular by building (ex. Create a public map of Ontario's Energy and Water Reporting and Benchmarking (EWRB) initiative)
Recapture utility costs under landlords’ responsibilities or allow tenants to apply directly for free energy efficient appliances, removing barriers and limiting the conditions in which the building owner must sign off.
Implement Mandatory Building Performance Standards (MBPS)/ Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards.
Energy Poverty
Make improvements to the Ontario Electricity Support Program (OESP) by:
Making OESP automatic with eligible low income residents’ taxes.
Removing the requirement to re-apply every two years
Increasing the rebate for all recipients during the summer months to account for increased costs of running an air conditioner
Increasing the rebate for recipients with electric heating during the winter months
Tenants do not choose their buildings’ heating systems or have the ability to retrofit their homes - that’s the landlord’s decision. Yet many are left paying the bill. The Province should create a similar program to OESP for low-income tenants who pay for gas.
The Ontario Energy Board should require utility providers to lower delivery fees
