It’s time for real rights for Ontario’s renters
Ontario’s renters deserve homes they can afford in communities they know and love – but for far too long they’ve been getting gouged.
While there are many good landlords in Ontario, existing rules do not properly protect renters from dramatic year-over-year rent increases, from unlawful evictions, and from the disappearance of truly affordable rental housing.
With increasing frequency, renters are being displaced from their homes by bad-acting landlords in pursuit of higher profits.
Bad-faith evictions, sometimes known as renovictions, are on the rise in Ontario. Recent data from ACORN has shown that N13 filings (eviction for renovation or demolition) rose nearly 300 percent between 2017 and 2022.
Meanwhile, rents keep rising and Ontario’s supply of affordable rental homes keeps shrinking.
And while the Ford government claims to have strengthened penalties for bad actors, the numbers tell a different story. Over the past four years, the Landlord and Tenant Board has issued just 13 fines for bad-faith evictions.
It’s time to put an end to this troubling trend. No one in Ontario should be left without a safe and affordable place to call home.
Our plan
On March 6, 2024, Ontario Greens Deputy Leader Aislinn Clancy tabled the Keeping People Housed Act.
It’s a comprehensive bill that, if passed, would deliver real relief by strengthening protections for renters and preserving Ontario’s affordable housing stock.
The Keeping People Housed Act would:
- Expand rent control to all buildings, including those built after 2018;
- Reinstate vacancy control to limit rent increases between tenancies;
- Increase requirements for landlords to ensure that vacancy is required for renovations before filing an application for an N13;
- Ensure that any buildings with six or more units with below mid-range rents, if demolished, are replaced with at least the same number, size and type of units with rent similar to those that were demolished;
- Create a rental registry to be maintained by the Landlord and Tenant Board; and
- Create a Rental Task Force to prepare a report on issues related to above-guideline rent increases.
If you support Ontario Greens’ plan for real rights for renters, write to your MPP to tell them to vote YES to the Keeping People Housed Act when it comes up for debate in the Ontario Legislature on March 28.
Raise your voice
Call or write to your MPP and tell them to vote for the Keeping People Housed Act on April 9.
Sign the petition calling on the Ford government to deliver real rights for renters by passing the Keeping People Housed Act.
Once you (and all your friends and family) have signed, send the petition back to us at:
Aislinn Clancy MPP
Constituency Office
305 King St. W, Suite 605
Kitchener, ON N2G 1B9
The petitions will be presented in the Ontario Legislature.
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