Toronto launches education campaign about new renoviction bylaw

The City of Toronto launched a public education campaign Tuesday to inform people about a new “renoviction” bylaw, set to go into effect on July 31.

The bylaw, which was in the works since 2019 and passed late last year, aims at preventing evictions under the guise of renovations, with the intention of re-renting at a much higher rate.

It will require a landlord to go through a number of steps when they issue an N13 notice to end tenancy for renovations in order to undertake renovations that would need the unit to be vacant. Those steps include obtaining a building permit and a Residential Rental Renovation License at a cost of $700.

Landlords will also be required to provide tenants with financial compensation in the form of a moving allowance. If a tenant chooses not to return to the renovated unit, the landlord is required to pay a lump sum amount equal to three months of ‘rent-gap’ payments.

“This effort is to make sure that all of the affordable rental housing that’s under [rent control] is protected,” said Coun. Paula Fletcher, who has long been championing the bylaw.

The education campaign consists of posters with messaging like “new hardwood shouldn’t make a renter’s life harder” and “new kitchens don’t justify wrongful evictions.” They aim to inform landlords about the various steps they need to take in order to carry out extensive renovations and to inform tenants of their rights when they are asked to vacate their units for those renovations.

“It let’s everybody know what the rules are, because we’re going to have new rules in the city as of July 31,” said Fletcher.

Hamilton was the first city in Ontario to pass a renovictions bylaw. City staff analyzed that bylaw before framing one for Toronto, which is now the second city in the province to introduce such legislation.