What to know
- Chow says rent control is a provincial responsibility, but stresses the city is doing what it can to protect tenants.
- Tenants can call 311 for help with sudden rent hikes, evictions, or renovictions, with designated bylaw enforcement officers helping determine if landlords are acting illegally.
- Under strengthened RentSafe rules, landlords must respond to urgent maintenance issues within 24 hours, or the city can step in, order repairs, and bill property owners if they fail to comply.
Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow says the Ontario government is to blame for the lack of rent control, but encourages tenants to seek support from the city by using its non-emergency line for certain issues like evictions, rent hikes, and maintenance problems.
In a recent interview with Now Toronto, Chow said that while rent control and tenant protections are responsibilities of the province, the city is taking steps to protect tenants, including designating Bylaw Enforcement Officers to help people with sudden rent hikes and evictions.
“Rent control is by the provincial government. I’ve been saying we need to bring back rent control. We need to protect our tenants, because it’s just not fair,” she said.
“We are helping a lot of tenants because sometimes some landlords, especially big buildings that are the owners, are multinational companies. They’re not individuals, they’re not small fish…They go and buy a building, and they jack up rents for everybody, and then people end up getting evicted, and that’s tough.”
@nowtoronto #Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow says the #Ontario government is to blame for the lack of rent control, but encourages #tenants ♬ original sound – Now Toronto
According to the mayor, Torontonians can call the city’s non-emergency line 311 if they believe their rent might have been unfairly raised, and the city can help them determine if the hike was illegal. The city also offers help for tenants who have been asked to vacate their rental units due to maintenance.
“Renovating doesn’t mean that they have to kick you out. OK? They might just be changing a sink, right? They use that excuse to [evict],” she said.
“The city passed a bylaw to say that any landlords that need to renovate, they need to get a building permit anyway.”
In addition, tenants can now also call the city in case their landlords fail to provide necessary maintenance on rental properties. Under the new RentSafeTO regulations, landlords or property owners are required to respond to urgent service requests within 24 hours, which include:
- Heat
- Gas
- Hydro
- Water
- Security breaches
If they fail to respond, the tenant can call the city, which will then investigate and file an Order to Comply or Notice of Violation, requiring the landlord to fix the issue within a certain period. If the landlord fails to do so, the city can then conduct the service and pass on the costs to property owners.
“Can you imagine if there’s no heat like today, or hot water is out, or your stove doesn’t work, or there’s cockroaches running around? So, [if] you need your landlord to fix things, and if they don’t, if they just ignore you, call 311,” Chow said. “Ultimately, they have to follow the city bylaw. They can’t just let people freeze.”
