Before rising for its summer recess, the Ontario government quickly passed a series of housing-related laws that raise significant concerns, in particular for the rights of encampment residents and renters, as well as for housing providers and affordable housing development. As part of its accelerated process, the government failed to consult with the public on these and other key pieces of legislation, raising further concerns around the opportunity for meaningful and democratic engagement. Below, we outline the current context in Ontario, our concerns with the government’s approach, and our recommendations and next steps to urge the government to take an evidence- and rights-based approach to address the root causes of the housing and homelessness crisis.
The crisis in Ontario
In the midst of growing political, social, and economic uncertainty, Ontario is facing a deepening housing and homelessness crisis. Renters are facing soaring rental costs, few affordable options, and limited housing security. Coupled with inadequate protections against excessive rents, unfair evictions, renovictions, demovictions, disrepair, discrimination, and many other issues, these conditions are leading renters to increasingly experience housing precarity and homelessness.
While 12 per cent of Ontarians are in core housing need – meaning that their housing is unaffordable, in need of major repairs, and/or does not have enough space for their family size – the rate of core housing need is more than double (25 per cent) for renters. Meanwhile, homelessness surveys reveal that more than 80,000 Ontarians experienced homelessness last year, an increase of over 25 per cent since 2022. This number could grow to 300,000 in the next decade without significant, targeted intervention.
Solving the crisis
Despite these staggering and extremely concerning figures, the solutions to address these growing challenges are entirely within Ontario’s grasp. As countless experts and reports have identified, building and protecting affordable housing – and the people who live there – is critical to tackling the housing and homelessness crisis. In addition to providing residents with security, stability, and dignity, these solutions are also more cost-effective for governments, as they save money on costly public services, such as healthcare, shelters and the justice system. What’s more, when people have access to housing that is safe, secure and affordable, they have stronger social and economic outcomes, from better physical and mental health to greater productivity and economic participation.
Ontario’s misguided approach
Unfortunately, the Ontario government continues to eschew these evidence- and rights-based approaches and instead continues to implement policies that undermine human rights, while failing to address the root causes and effectively tackle the housing and homelessness crisis. Moreover, the government bypassed key processes to engage with the public on the development of these policies, thus failing to provide opportunities for experts – including those with lived experience – to share their feedback and ensure that the government’s approach is responsive to the needs of people most impacted by the housing and homelessness crisis.
During the 2025 spring session, the government quickly passed various pieces of housing-related legislation, including:
As part of its sweeping and accelerated legislative agenda, the government also passed and introduced additional pieces of legislation that raise significant concerns, including:
Bill 25, Emergency Management Modernization Act, 2025, which proposes concerning requirements for municipalities and non-profits to comply with provincial directives that may not align with local or community needs.
Pivoting to an evidence- and rights-based approach
In our recent submission to members of the Ontario government and opposition parties, we outlined our initial concerns with some of the new pieces of housing-related legislation, recognizing the need for further analysis, explanation, and consultation to better understand the range of potential implications. Ahead of returning for the fall legislative session, we urge the government to reconsider its current approach to tackling the housing and homelessness crisis and instead commit to upholding the right to housing by taking evidence- and rights-based approaches – namely by building and protecting housing that is secure and affordable, and that meets diverse community needs.
In the meantime, we will continue working with our community partners to further analyze the potential implications of these bills and develop our next steps to challenge the government’s approach, including by exploring potential legal action.
Members of the Encampment Justice Coalition have also developed resources for encampment residents to better understand the potential impacts of Bill 6:
The Canadian Right to Housing Research Fellowship program supported two independent research projects led by Brittany Cormier and Monika Imeri.
Between 2023-2024, the research fellows each examined a topic that aimed to advance understandings of the housing landscape in Canada – one in the Capital Region of Prince Edward Island, the other in Ottawa. The reports below present the findings and analysis from their projects.
The Canadian Centre for Housing Rights (CCHR) was proud to provide ongoing research support to each fellow throughout the program. The fellowship program was funded by the P and L Odette Foundation, with additional support from the Safe and Affordable Place to Call Home project for the completion of Monika Imeri’s research. CCHR and the research fellows thank these funders and partners for their generous support.
The 2025 federal election comes at a time of deep political, social, and economic uncertainty and turmoil. The escalating housing and homelessness crisis remains a top concern for millions of people across Canada, with renters facing increasingly precarious conditions, few affordable options to turn to, and limited protections to help them stay in their homes. Now, with the onset of an unprecedented trade war with the United States, they face even greater instability, with job and income loss already making its way through the Canadian economy. Without safe, secure, affordable homes, renters are facing housing precarity, displacement, and homelessness now more than ever before. To ensure a healthy, equitable, and sustainable future, the next federal government must prioritize those most impacted by the housing and homelessness crisis: renters and people experiencing homelessness.
To help inform voters ahead of election day on April 28, we have summarized commitments made by theLiberal Party, Conservative Party, New Democratic Party and Green Party to tackle the housing and homelessness crisis, as identified in their 2025 federal election party platforms and other announcements they have made during this period. We have organized these commitments under our top three housing priorities that require urgent action by the next federal government:
The information on this page was last updated on April 24, 2025.
Provide immediate support to renters and people experiencing homelessness
Urgent support is needed now to keep renters in their homes and to house people experiencing homelessness. Rapidly rising rents, alongside other rising costs, are forcing low- and medium-income renters out of their homes and preventing people from accessing housing in the first place. Expanding and directing immediate financial and other support to those in greatest need is critical to tackling the housing and homelessness crisis in the short-term. At the same time, urgent action is needed to ensure that the human rights and dignity of people experiencing homelessness are upheld and respected.
Note: We have not listed tax relief proposals here, as they do not provide immediate or targeted support.
Federal party commitments
Liberal
Immediately develop homelessness reduction targets with each province and territory to inform Housing First investments and end encampments.
Increase the Guaranteed Income Supplement by five per cent for one year.
Conservative
There has been no explicit mention of immediate support for renters and people experiencing homelessness.
NDP
Establish a Housing Insecurity Prevention Benefit to help 50,000 people in need find homes.
Create an $8 billion Communities First Fund to support provinces and territories to expand housing-enabling infrastructure, including by requiring housing security strategies to end encampments and homelessness.
Double the Canada Disability Benefit and increase the Guaranteed Income Supplement.
Green
Expand investments in Housing First programs and wraparound support services.
Expand federal funding for youth shelters and transitional housing, with dedicated housing supports for young people at risk of homelessness.
Introduce a Guaranteed Livable Income.
Protect renters from excessive rents and unfair evictions
Rent supplements are an important stop gap measure, but in the absence of strong rent regulations and protections against evictions, they will not ensure safe, secure, and affordable homes for renters. Renters across the country are facing excessive rents, arbitrary and unfair evictions, renovictions, demovictions, disrepair, discrimination, and many other issues. While landlord and renter matters are primarily governed by provincial and territorial governments, there is an important role for the federal government to play in helping to regulate rents and prevent evictions, as it has done in the past. Renters and advocates are increasingly looking to the federal government to play a stronger role in renters’ rights and protections.
Federal party commitments
Liberal
There has been noexplicit mention of measures to address excessive rents or unfair evictions.
Conservative
There has been noexplicit mention of measures to address excessive rents or unfair evictions.
NDP
Introduce a Renters’ Bill of Rights that ties access to federal funding for provinces, territories, and municipalities that introduce strong renter protection measures.
Implement national rent control.
Ban fixed-term leases, renovictions, demovictions, and other predatory and exploitative practices.
Ban rent price-fixing and collusion, including the use of shared data platforms and coordinated pricing tools.
Recognize the right of tenant unions to negotiate with landlords.
Green
Require provinces and territories to implement strong rent and vacancy controls and sufficiently fund landlord/tenant dispute resolution agencies as a requirement to access federal housing funding.
Build and protect deeply affordable housing
For decades, the federal government withdrew from its role in building and protecting affordable housing. Despite the government’s recent re-engagement in affordable housing development, federal housing investments have failed to produce truly affordable housing that meets the needs of those most impacted by the housing and homelessness crisis. This is due in large part to the government’s over-reliance on the private sector to build new housing, which has not produced housing that is affordable for low- and medium-income renters due to insufficient affordability requirements. At the same time, the government has provided inadequate support for the non-market sector (e.g., Indigenous, public, non-profit, and co-operative housing) to build new and protect existing affordable housing, including rent-geared-to-income housing. This approach has also contributed to the increasing financialization of the housing sector.
Federal party commitments
Liberal
Act as a developer to build affordable housing at scale, including on public lands, and provide $10 billion in low-cost financing and capital to affordable homebuilders, of which:
$4 billion would be directed towards long-term fixed-rate financing.
$6 billion would be directed towards rapidly building deeply affordable housing, supportive housing, Indigenous housing, and shelters.
Reintroduce the Multiple Unit Rental Building (MURB) tax incentive.
Reduce the tax liability for private rental housing providers when they sell their building to a non-profit operator, land trust, or non-profit acquisition fund, with requirements for the proceeds to be reinvested in building new purpose-built rental housing.
Conservative
Sell 15 per cent of federal land buildings to be turned into affordable housing.
Remove the GST on new rental housing construction.
NDP
Create an $8 billion Canadian Homes Transfer to support cities to build affordable homes quickly, including by committing to 20 per cent non-market housing in every neighbourhood.
Ban corporations from buying existing affordable rental buildings.
Restrict large corporate landlords from accessing low-interest federal loans, preferential tax treatment, and mortgage loan insurance.
Boost the Rental Protection Fund to help community housing providers purchase and acquire private rental buildings.
Set aside 100 per cent of suitable federal land to build over 100,000 rent-controlled homes by 2035.
Redesign and double the Public Land Acquisition Fund to invest $1 billion over five years into acquiring more public land to build more rent-controlled homes.
Develop a new Community Housing Bank to partner with non-profit housing developers, co-operative housing operators, and Indigenous communities.
Green
Clearly define “affordable housing” to ensure that government-funded housing costs no more than 30 per cent of a household’s income.
Use covenants to ensure that housing built with public funds stays affordable over the long term.
Close loopholes to prevent the use of real estate for money laundering.
Eliminate preferential tax treatment for Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) and other corporate landlords.
Prevent corporations from buying single family homes.
Launch a public housing construction program, including building 1.2 million non-market homes over seven years.
Transfer federal land to Indigenous-led housing organizations to support community-driven housing solutions.
Toronto, ON – March 5, 2025 – A new report released today by the Canadian Centre for Housing Rights (CCHR) finds that racialized individuals, newcomers and people with children across Canada face heightened discrimination when searching to secure a rental home. It also finds that people with disabilities face high levels of discrimination while living in a rental home.
The research study, conducted in partnership with Dr. Gordon Hodson at Brock University, is the first national study discrimination in rental housing ever published in Canada. It used an experimental design method to analyze the responses from landlords and property managers to individuals who had inquired about a vacant rental home. It also analyzed survey responses from renters about their experiences during their search for a rental home, and while living in one.
The research team studied 57 communities across Canada. By analyzing 1,178 messages sent to landlords and property managers, and 586 survey responses from renters, the study found that, in comparison to white individuals, landlords responded less often to racialized individuals, and even less when racialized individuals had a child. Landlords asked these individuals more questions about their personal life – for example about their marital, family and citizenship status – and even more of these questions to newcomers. They also requested more proof of income and employment from racialized individuals and women as compared to white men. Landlords ultimately rejected more rental applications from racialized individuals, and the most from newcomers.
“Marginalized groups continue to face concerning levels of discrimination in rental housing across Canada, and these problems may only be worsened by low vacancy rates and high income inequality,” says Megan Earle, Independent Researcher.
“With these conditions, landlords are able to be very selective in who they’re renting to.” says Sophie O’Manique, Senior Researcher at the Canadian Centre for Housing Rights. “This research confirms widespread discrimination against some groups of would-be renters, which creates even steeper barriers for them to find a reasonable place to live.”
The study also found that landlords very often required people with disabilities to follow different rules than other renters who did not have a disability. People with disabilities also reported experiencing very high rates of aggression and violations of their boundaries from landlords.
“Even after finding a rental home, marginalized groups often face additional discrimination at the hands of their landlords during their tenancy,” says Earle. “Policy and advocacy efforts are needed to confront landlord discrimination on both fronts – during renters’ search for housing, and while they’re living in their home.”
“For many, this is an impossible situation,” says O’Manique. “Governments need to act with urgency to ensure an adequate supply of affordable rental housing, and work to enforce existing human rights protections.”
Media contact: Shelley Buckingham Director of Communications, Canadian Centre for Housing Rights Email: media [at] housingrightscanada.com
Over several decades, CCHR has consistently heard from renters facing discrimination in the rental housing market. Renters who are searching for housing will often report that they have been denied the opportunity to view or apply for an apartment, or that their rental applications are rejected based on some aspect of their identity, such as their immigration status, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, racial or ethnic background, age, the composition of their family, or because they are receiving social assistance.
CCHR’s research studies – from our 2009, 2022 and 2025 discrimination audits – have found that marginalized groups face high levels of discrimination when searching for rental housing in communities across Canada, and also while living in their rental units.
The results of our research indicate that the groups who face more barriers to access rental housing are lower income households, families with children, single people, women, Indigenous people, racialized people, newcomers and people with disabilities. However, the extent to which these groups experience discrimination before and during tenancies varies. Newcomers and racialized people face more barriers when searching for housing than other groups. People with disabilities and households with children face more issues once renting than other groups, while lower income households face discrimination both before and during their tenancy.
Under the National Housing Strategy Act (NHSA), the federal government has committed to uphold the right to housing and improve housing outcomes for the people in greatest need. This commitment extends to provincial, territorial and municipal governments as well. Discrimination in the private rental market constitutes a significant barrier to advancing the right to housing, and all our governments must implement strong measures to prevent discrimination in housing.
The most direct way to do this is by increasing the supply of non-profit housing and prioritizing access for the groups most impacted by discrimination. This means dedicating and prioritizing funding to increase the supply of affordable, accessible and culturally adequate housing for lower income households, including Indigenous, Black and other racialized households, newcomers, families, multi-generational households and people with disabilities. Other measures should also be implemented to target housing practices that result in discrimination.
Reducing barriers to accessing affordable and adequate housing
The Government of Canada should implement policies and provide legal protections to reduce discrimination that act as a barrier to accessing housing, prioritizing racialized groups and non-citizens, such as:
Dedicating funding to support Black-led and other intersectional organizations and civil society groups in addressing the specific challenges that Black and racialized households face in securing housing.
Dedicating funding to support settlement organizations and other civil society groups in addressing the specific challenges that newcomers face in securing housing.
Providing temporary housing assistance to non-citizens to help pay for security deposits and short-term rentals while they look for a permanent, stable home. For example, the Interim Housing Assistance Program could be expanded to include new permanent residents and temporary residents with acute housing needs.
Establishing no-fee guarantor services to support newcomers to access housing upon arrival in Canada.
Including social condition as a prohibited ground of discrimination in federal, provincial and territorial legislation, so that people who have demonstrated capacity to pay do not face discrimination based on their income level.
Amending the NHSA to explicitly recognize discrimination based on human rights grounds as a barrier to the enjoyment of the right to housing.
Requiring provincial and territorial governments to amend their Residential Tenancies Acts to prevent discrimination during the pre-tenancy period. For instance, landlords should be prohibited from asking for more than one month of rent as a security deposit and should clearly state eligibility criteria when advertising available units. In addition, prospective renters without a lease should be able to bring applications to their provincial or territorial housing tribunal if landlords breach these conditions.
Preventing landlord harassment and neglect in the home
Everyone has the right to the peaceful enjoyment of their home, and to live in well-maintained housing that does not threaten their health or safety. The Government of Canada should implement policies and provide legal protections to reduce discrimination during tenancies, prioritizing people with disabilities and families with children, such as:
Increasing funding to federal, provincial and territorial human rights tribunals and commissions to ensure complaints of discrimination are addressed swiftly.
Increasing funding to legal aid systems so that people who are raising a human rights complaint can get assistance and representation throughout the process.
All levels of government funding the development of education programs that are designed to support renters learning about their legal rights and housing providers learning about their legal obligations.
Requiring provincial and territorial governments to establish minimum residential maintenance standards in their laws and supporting municipalities in the development of rental licensing programs to ensure rental homes are well-maintained and livable. These programs should be implemented in a way that meets the specific safety needs of renters, with strong monitoring and enforcement mechanisms.
Creating and funding rental housing navigation services to help renters access the supports they need and mediate with landlords on their behalf when issues arise during tenancies. These services should place emphasis on helping renters with disabilities navigate housing challenges.
Mitigating the impacts of the financialization of housing
The level of discrimination that marginalized renters face is in part a consequence of the financialization of housing. This research found that discrimination in housing is more pronounced in a tight housing market, where bigger, more expensive units in areas with low vacancy rates are out of reach for marginalized groups. Without an adequate supply of diverse affordable housing options for lower income households, federal, provincial and territorial governments must implement measures that reduce the impacts that the financialization of housing has on access to housing by marginalized groups.
Federal, provincial and territorial governments need to improve their targets for government-funded affordable housing and prioritize funding allocations to non-profit providers to ensure that marginalized groups have access to housing that meets their needs.
In addition to greater investment in non-market, community housing that is protected from market forces, all levels of government must collaborate to ensure that affordable and non-market housing options are protected and expanded for lower income households.
Provincial and territorial governments should implement effective rent regulation measures, including vacancy control, to prevent unfair rent increases and economic evictions.
Federal, provincial and territorial governments should overcome the legal and operational bottlenecks in addressing housing discrimination by funding and investigating the nature, scope and impact of discriminatory housing practices.
The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation 2024 Fall Rental Market Report reveals that a historically high supply of purpose-built rentals in 2024 (4.1 per cent growth rate) helped slow the pace of rent growth and increase vacancy rates across Canada. However, the report shows that newly available units are too expensive for low- to moderate-income renters, doing little to address affordability. Rent increases on turnover units remained unchanged from 2023 and accounted for over 40 per cent of rent growth in 2024.
Relatedly, the latest report from the Parliamentary Budget Officer on the National Housing Strategy (NHS) shows federal funding has failed to address housing affordability. Despite the NHS goal to reduce core housing need, the report shows that over 600,000 additional households are now in core housing need compared to when the NHS was launched in 2017 (totaling 2.4 million in 2024), and this number is expected to grow to nearly one million by 2027 (totaling 2.6 million). This is a result of NHS investments prioritizing private market rental supply over affordable, non-market supply, as evidenced by a 19 per cent decrease in funding for housing assistance programs and a nearly 9,000 per cent increase in funding for market housing over the last 10 years.
On December 16, the federal government tabled the Fall Economic Statement (FES), which reiterates housing-related investments announced in the 2024 budget, with new funding mainly directed towards low-cost lending for private developers. $2 billion is earmarked for the construction of 4,000 new market homes, while affordable housing programs will receive an additional $100 million. The release of the FES coincided with the resignation of the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities. Toronto MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith was sworn in as the new Housing Minister and CCHR sent him a congratulatory letter outlining our priorities and opportunities to act on the housing crisis in the short and long-term. Minister Erskine-Smith stated that he will “build on the work” of his predecessor.
On December 11, NDP Infrastructure and Communities Critic Bonita Zarillo tabled Bill C-423, An Act to Amend the National Housing Strategy Act (NHSA). The Bill proposes to strengthen the right to adequate housing in Canada by addressing the financialization of housing and the erosion of affordable supply. Key measures include establishing federal guidelines to strengthen rent control, tackle unfair business practices, deter bad faith evictions and prevent discrimination in housing. The bill also proposes strengthening language in the NHSA around the right to housing, reducing financial incentives for investors, and consulting with other levels of governments on protecting affordable rentals and upholding renters’ rights.
On December 3, the Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC) and the Federal Housing Advocate (FHA) shared new findings on housing outcomes of people with disabilities. The research indicates that Canada is not meeting its human rights obligations under the National Housing Strategy Act (NHSA) and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). It found that people with disabilities were more likely to experience homelessness or live in inadequate housing, and are often living in homes that are not accessible. In addition, new data shows that people with disabilities are also more likely to live in unsafe housing and lack the means and supports to secure adequate, affordable and accessible housing. Financial hardship and domestic violence were cited as drivers of housing insecurity leading to homelessness for people with disabilities, particularly women.
The research results will inform Canada’s forthcoming report to the United Nations on the implementation of the CRPD. The FHA is also preparing to request the establishment of a Review Panel by the National Housing Council on the right to housing for people with disabilities.
On December 13, Bill 3, An Act to Amend the Residential Tenancies Act received Royal Assent. The new legislation introduces rent increase guidelines applicable to all rental properties and will enter into force on February 1, 2025. The Bill ties rent increases to changes in the Consumer Price Index and allows for additional increases in case of major renovations. For 2025, the maximum allowable rent increase is three per cent and the upper limit for an above guideline rent increase is nine per cent.
While advocates see the bill as a promising step, ACORN and the New Brunswick Coalition for Tenants Rights argued that there are loopholes in the legislation and that it does not protect renters against unfair rent increases and economic evictions. For example, the legislation does not prevent the use of fixed-term leases, which are common in New Brunswick and often used by landlords to displace renters and increase rents beyond the provincial guidelines when new renters move in. In addition, the legislation does not require landlords to prove that renovations are necessary and does not effectively protect renters against renovictions. CCHR echoed these concerns in our submission on the Bill and called on the government to end vacancy decontrol, prohibit the use of fixed-term leases and ensure above-guideline rent increases are thoroughly monitored and evaluated before being approved.
Following several weeks of local advocacy and pushback, on December 12, Ontario introduced Bill 242, the Safer Municipalities Act, which would increase police and municipal powers to evict encampment residents and impose severe penalties on people experiencing homelessness. With growing rates of homelessness across the province, advocates, opposition leaders and mayors decried the proposed legislation and said it amounted to the criminalization of homelessness and a violation of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. They also noted that the legislation would not be effective in removing encampments but would only displace them to more remote, less serviced areas or to less punitive municipalities. The Premier said that he is willing to use the notwithstanding clause to prevent the courts from overturning the new legislation.
Echoing concerns from other advocates, CCHR expressed the need for greater investments in supports for housing stabilization, an increase in the supply of deeply affordable housing and improved monitoring and targets to prioritize the needs of people most impacted by the housing and homelessness crisis.
The City of Winnipeg and the province announced a new plan to gradually move people from encampments into permanent housing starting in 2025. The plan relies on a staircase model of housing stabilization, whereby encampment residents will be supported through emergency shelters and then move into new social housing that the province is in the process of acquiring and building, in partnership with other levels of government and the non-profit sector. Within 30 days, encampment residents will be moved into housing with wraparound addictions and mental health support, though the provincial government remained vague about the number of people supported and the number of social housing units that will be available.
In response to a surge in rural homelessness, Alberta’s Minister of Seniors, Community and Social Services announced key new measures for the province’s homelessness response plan. A panel of experts will be formed to assess government programs and funding, with a focus on homelessness in rural areas and Indigenous communities. Funding will also be centralized and provided directly to frontline service providers by the province. Currently, funding is administered through seven non-profit organizations in Alberta’s largest urban centres. The Chief of the Enoch Cree Nation welcomed the news, saying that it will allow Indigenous-led organizations to be more effective. However, the NDP Housing Critic and several advocates expressed reservations about the new funding model and how it may leave more people “falling through the cracks.”
On December 12, the B.C. NDP and Green Party entered into an agreement to work jointly on building more affordable housing, strengthening healthcare and growing a sustainable economy, amongst other priorities. This agreement is expected to help reinforce the NDP minority government and work towards several of the two parties’ common goals, such as increasing non-market housing supply, expanding rental assistance programs, and improving homelessness response across the province.
On December 12, the City of Toronto’s Ombudsman published the results of their investigation into the City’s decision to limit access to the shelter system for refugees between April 2022 and October 2023. The report shows that about 45 per cent of refugee claimants were turned away by the shelter intake system, most of whom were Black and from African countries. While the report recognized that Toronto’s shelter system continues to be strained, the Ombudsman stated that the City’s decision amounted to anti-Black racism and was inconsistent with the City’s Housing Charter and the Ontario Human Rights Code. The Ombudsman issued 14 recommendations to address discrimination in the shelter system and uphold the City’s obligations to progressively realize the right to housing.
City Manager Paul Johnson disagreed with the report findings and said that he would not act on the recommendations, adding that he viewed the right to housing as “aspirational.” In response, Right to Housing Toronto and a coalition of Black-led organizations and advocates urged City Council to review and implement the Ombudsman’s recommendations. On December 18, Council decided to accept the recommendations but did not adopt them.
Calgary City Council voted in favour of new amendments to its Business License Bylaw, which regulates short-term rentals. The new rules will address previous gaps related to rental agreements of up to 180 days and will require property owners to obtain a business license to operate short-term rentals, with higher fees for short-term rentals that are not primary residences. There are about 5,000 short-term rentals in Calgary, 42 per cent of which are not primary residences. The City further intends to collect taxes on non-primary residences, and will impose a moratorium on new non-primary residences when the vacancy rate drops below 2.5 per cent.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Toronto, ON – January 8, 2025 – A new report released today by the Canadian Centre for Housing Rights (CCHR) finds that 67% of tenants in Toronto have been threatened with eviction. Among them, 60% were due to a landlord claiming they needed the tenant to move out so that they could use the unit for themselves or a family member (also called “own-use” evictions) or to carry out renovations (also called “renovictions”).
These findings were collected in early 2023 through a survey of 178 tenants in Toronto using a convenience sampling technique, where tenants were asked about their moving history within the previous 12-month period.
The study also collected information through semi-structured interviews with 19 housing services caseworkers, lawyers, and advocates who work directly with tenants in Toronto. The interviews revealed that many tenants moved out immediately after being threatened with eviction, instead of going through the formal eviction process through the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB). These situations are known as “informal evictions” because they are not tracked by authorities when they bypass the LTB eviction process.
The study found that people with low- and fixed-incomes, younger people and newcomers are most at risk of experiencing an informal eviction. The main reasons why tenants move out after being threatened with eviction is because they are not familiar with the eviction process or faced language barriers that caused confusion about what eviction notices mean. Many tenants also did not know their legal rights or the housing services that were available that could have helped them to stay in their home.
“Evictions are a serious problem in Toronto. Nearly half of the city’s residents are renters, and many are struggling to pay rents that are increasingly unaffordable,” says Jon Paul Mathias, Researcher at the Canadian Centre for Housing Rights (CCHR). “Evictions are extremely stressful and contribute to negative health and housing outcomes for residents, particularly low-income and racialized communities.”
“Informal evictions are gross violations of tenants’ right to a secure and stable home. These types of evictions are only possible because of glaring policy gaps that can be easily exploited,” says Sara Beyer, Manager of Policy at CCHR. “We need our governments to take meaningful action to protect tenants from informal evictions, including by strengthening renter protections and supports, supporting tenant outreach and education, and building and preserving deeply affordable housing.”
Media contact: Shelley Buckingham Director of Communications, Canadian Centre for Housing Rights Email: media [at] housingrightscanada.com
The federal government announced changes to two key National Housing Strategy (NHS) programs. Updates to the Affordable Housing Fund (AHF), which supports affordable housing development and repairs, include program extension, two sub-streams for new construction for those in greatest need and for community housing, and prioritization of repair projects supporting accessibility and energy efficiency. Updates to the Apartment Construction Loan Program (ACLP), which supports rental housing construction, include program extension, expanded eligibility for student and seniors housing, and removal of minimum accessibility and energy efficiency requirements. The federal government also announced new initiatives aimed at lowering housing costs, including consultations on the financialization of single-family homes.
The Canadian Housing and Renewal Association welcomed changes to the AHF, while calling for further program extension. See CCHR’s analysis of the effectiveness of NHS spending through the AHF and ACLP..
Green Party MP Mike Morrice introduced a motion calling for the federal government to adopt a consistent definition of affordable housing to ensure its housing programs effectively meet targets to reduce housing need and homelessness. Currently, federal housing programs use a variety of both market- and income-based definitions of affordable housing, which has failed to produce a sufficient stock of affordable housing for people in greatest housing need. The motion calls for a uniform definition of deeply affordable housing for very low and low-income families, and another definition for moderate and median-income families. The motion aligns with calls from housing advocates and researchers across the country for a consistent definition of affordable housing.
Following calls from renters, advocates, and the federal NDP, the Competition Bureau of Canada quietly launched an investigation into allegations of collusion and rent price-fixing by Canadian landlords. The allegations involve the use of YieldStar, an artificial intelligence software that allegedly allows landlords to use algorithms to coordinate rent increases using proprietary rental data. This summer, the United States Department of Justice launched a lawsuit against RealPage, the company that owns YieldStar. Meanwhile, a proposed class-action lawsuit is seeking compensation from over a dozen Canadian landlords accused of using YieldStar. Likely because of these investigations and legal actions, some landlords have announced that they are no longer using YieldStar.
Tent City for Change in St. John’s are calling on the Newfoundland and Labrador government to ban no-fault evictions, which they say discriminate against renters, especially racialized and other marginalized renters, and lead to increasing rates of housing insecurity and homelessness. NDP Leader Jim Dunn agreed that ending no-fault evictions could help provide more stability for renters, and called for additional renter protections, including rent regulation and rent banks, alongside additional investments in non-market, community housing. Meanwhile, End Homelessness St. John’s released a community plan outlining actions needed by all levels of government to address homelessness in the city, including by coordinating efforts to build more affordable housing and provide greater supports to people in housing need.
The Ontario government recently passed new legislation aimed at reducing red tape, including addressing backlogs at the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB). Among the new measures is a proposal to allow credit bureaus to gain access to LTB orders of renters who have missed rent payments. CCHR shared our concerns about this approach, which would undermine the right to housing for renters, perpetuate poverty, and disproportionally impact marginalized renters. Meanwhile, renter advocates report much longer wait times for renter applications at the LTB than for landlords, especially for landlord applications for non-payment of rent.
A recent report from Desjardins estimates that Quebec will experience high rent increases next year, while rent inflation is expected to slow elsewhere in the country. FRAPRU cites ineffective enforcement of rent control, including the lack of a rent registry, and an insufficient stock of social housing as key contributing factors. Meanwhile, applications to the Tribunal administratif du logement (TAL), Quebec’s rental tribunal, have increased by more than 40 per cent over the past two years, with the majority of applications filed by landlords. Renter advocates note the TAL tends to favour landlords over renters, including landlord applications for unpaid rent, with few opportunities for renters to share context about the conditions of their rental units. For its part, the Société d’habitation du Québec launched a new campaign to inform renters and landlords of their housing rights and responsibilities.
Manitoba’s Right to Housing Coalition was joined by Bernadette Smith, Minister of Housing, Addictions and Homelessness, as part of a national action coordinated by the Social Housing and Human Rights coalition, calling for greater federal investment in social housing. The national coalition is advocating for a minimum of 50,000 new rent-geared-to-income housing units over the next 10 years for people experiencing core housing need and homelessness, alongside greater investment in non-market housing acquisition, construction, operation, and maintenance. The Manitoba coalition is calling for at least 10,000 social housing units over the next decade, noting that of the 2,000 rental units built under recent federal programs, only 253 are affordable for renters with the lowest incomes.
A recent report from Alberta’s auditor general found that the government lacks information on the state of its affordable housing stock and does not have standards or plans for its maintenance. To ensure the sustainability and safety of the units, the report recommends that the province compile an accurate list of necessary repairs and develop a maintenance plan according to need. The government says work is underway to address unit maintenance, including a request for proposals to develop a long-term affordable housing maintenance strategy and $121 million over three years. That funding will support maintenance in 4,250 units this year, while the province owns roughly 27,000 affordable housing units.
Following a series of consultations, the City of Whitehorse is considering developing a regulatory framework to manage short-term rentals (STR), which is supported by housing advocates and organizations. Currently, Whitehorse does not have any regulations around STR operation but estimates that regulations could help address the city’s low 1.8 per cent rental vacancy rate and affordability challenges. Potential policy options under consideration include requiring STR operators to obtain a business license, restricting the number of STRs in residential neighbourhoods, limiting the number of days an STR could be available, and imposing primary residence requirements on STR operators. Recent research in British Columbia and Ontario found that STR regulations corresponded with decreases in rent prices.
Research project
The Right to Housing for Disabled Peopleis a research project led by the Canadian Centre for Housing Rights in partnership with housing and disability researchers, organizations and advocates from across Canada.
Barriers to realizing the right to housing for disabled people* are largely unexplored, making it difficult to understand why a significant proportion of people experiencing homelessness have disabilities. To address this gap, this project aims to develop a research agenda on discrimination and the right to housing for people with disabilities in Canada, with the goal of helping them overcome the significant barriers they face when trying to realize this right.
The project will bring together partners from a range of sectors including people with lived experience, universities, non-profit organizations, housing providers, developers and decision-makers. Through building research networks, knowledge exchanges and capacity building, data gathering and analysis, and creating and sharing knowledge among these partners, the project will identify how discrimination and the denial of appropriate housing can be overcome through additional supports for disabled people, as well as changes to policy and legislation.
Using a critical disability lens
The research is being conducted through a critical lens and uses the social model of disability. The social model locates disability and disablement in societal attitudes and structures rather than minds and bodies. From this perspective, housing systems in Canada should be set up in a way that are not exclusionary toward or restrictive of people with disabilities, especially with such a basic right as housing. The project also adopts a human rights model that recognizes disability as a natural part of human diversity that needs to be respected and supported in all its forms. According to this model, disabled people have the same rights as everyone else in society, and disability must not be used as an excuse to deny or restrict people’s rights.
Finally, we use a disability justice framework that moves beyond legal and political rights. Disability justice is intersectional and inclusive, led by those who are most oppressed. Ableism is understood as inextricably intertwined with heteropatriarchy, white supremacy, colonialism, and capitalism.
Research questions
Supporting and empowering people with disabilities with appropriate housing in a non-discriminatory manner involves a range of interventions, including eviction diversion and prevention, housing stabilization, income supports, and a range of accessible housing opportunities.
Toward that end, this project has three broad research questions:
How do disabled people experience the right to housing in Canada?
What discriminatory barriers do they face?
What supports, procedural or process changes, and revisions to laws, policies, and programs can help them overcome these barriers?
Constructing a research agenda
The Government of Canada’s historic 2019 National Housing Strategy Act (NHSA) legislated the right to housing in Canada. This aligned Canada with United Nations covenants that guarantee the progressive realization of the right to adequate housing. It developed a National Housing Strategy (NHS) that commits Canada to progressively realize the right to housing by implementing policies that will improve housing conditions and affordability across the country. Joining a small handful of countries with rights-based housing legislation, the NHSA set Canada apart as a global leader. However, leaders must have their house in order.
Implementing the right to housing implicates issues such as the availability of accessible housing and the supports required by people with disabilities to remain housed, the availability and appropriateness of income supports to sustain tenancy arrangements, and fair adjudicative processes surrounding evictions. However, barriers to the right to housing for disabled people are largely unexplored. This historical gap in research and analysis makes it difficult to ascertain why a significant proportion of people experiencing homelessness have disabilities. The timing could not be more urgent given the broader housing and cost-of-living crisis in Canada, which disproportionately affects disabled people.
This research project addresses a major empirical gap by investigating the varying experiences of discrimination faced by people with disabilities and the way they overcome discriminatory barriers in four Canadian provinces – Nova Scotia, Ontario, Manitoba, and British Columbia. The goal of this project is to make a major contribution to a research agenda concerning the right to housing for disabled people and how ongoing experiences of discrimination are preventing people with disabilities from realizing their right to housing in Canada.
Historical gaps
There is limited documentation, data and peer-reviewed research on the housing experiences of disabled people in Canada. Our annotated bibliography is the first comprehensive collection of grey literature on the right to housing for disabled people in Canada. However, most existing English-language research on disability and housing is from the United States, the United Kingdom, continental Europe, and Australia.
Research that does exist has only begun to grapple with the rights of disabled people to access housing and has pointed to the importance of mapping the structural and real-life barriers they face when securing affordable and adequate housing.
Meanwhile, people with disabilities face numerous forms of discrimination when securing appropriate housing. These include housing design and construction (the general accessibility and adaptability of the physical environment), the availability and presentation of information on housing options, the economic factors that affect access to housing (including general affordability and the ability to secure housing finance), and the role of various actors involved in the process of building, selling, and allocating housing.
The limited and anecdotal evidence that does exist points to important problems but is decidedly inadequate for robust decision-making in programming and policymaking. This evidential gap is consequential and a research agenda that spans both academia and community research organizations is urgently needed to guide evidence and knowledge-building.
Approach
The Right to Housing for Disabled People project agenda is constructed according to a three-part framing of the problem of discrimination:
The root causes of discrimination against people with disabilities in housing.
Discrimination in the provision of appropriate accessible housing to disabled people.
Across this framing, the research agenda we are constructing examines the right to housing through perspectives including:
Sensitivity to the gendered aspects of discrimination, including for cisgender women and girls, transgender, non-binary, and Two Spirit people.
An intersectional approach to better understand how identity markers (e.g., race, ethnicity, class, gender, sexuality, disability) interact with social and political power structures in discrimination against renters with disabilities.
Ensuring that disabled parents, guardians, or prospective parents are not discriminated against based on disability.
Research model
This project promotes an understanding of the right to housing as described in Canadian and international law. It adopts a human rights model, the social model of disability, and a disability justice framework, critically exploring the mechanisms of law and policy related to housing, disability, social justice, and the lived experience of marginalized and disadvantaged groups who experience discrimination. As such, our theoretical approaches are rooted in the “right to housing” concept.
International law commits national governments to respecting, protecting, and realizing the right to adequate housing within their countries. International law defines the right to housing according to seven key components: affordability, security of tenure, accessibility, habitability, location, cultural adequacy and availability of services, facilities, and infrastructure.
From a right to housing perspective, homelessness is a gross violation of the right to housing, and governments must do everything within their power to prevent homelessness amongst their population. Losing one’s home is a key pathway to homelessness, and viewed from a right to housing perspective, eviction violates the right to housing by removing security of tenure. By incorporating a right to housing lens, this research will examine why, and in what ways, existing policies and adjudicative processes may violate the right to housing of people with disabilities in Canada. It will also point to solutions that strengthen the right to housing and prevent homelessness for disabled people.
Updates and findings from this project will be shared on this page. Please check again soon or sign up to CCHR’s newsletter to receive email updates.
* The use of “person-first” language (people with disabilities) vs. “identity-first” language (disabled people) is contentious within disability communities. Identity-first language is generally preferred by contemporary disability activists as it places the focus on societal barriers (i.e., disabled people are disabled by society). However, some others, especially people labelled with an intellectual disability, tend to prefer person-first language. We have used both forms in this paper to respect the preferences of members of these various communities.
The latest developments in housing policy from across Canada:
Throughout October, the federal government introduced several new measures to encourage housing development, including:
The addition of 14 underused properties suitable for housing development to the Canada Public Lands Bank.
New mortgage rules to encourage residential densification through the development of secondary suites.
Consultations on vacant residential land taxation, which could encourage the development of new housing, discourage land speculation and generate additional revenues to reinvest in federal housing programs.
Nearly $50 million through the Homelessness Reduction Innovation Fund to help communities develop innovative homelessness prevention projects and accelerate the construction of new homes for people experiencing homelessness. This initiative is part of the federal Reaching Home Program and will be implemented by the Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness, with support offered to communities drawing from successful approaches.
The National Advisory Council on Poverty released a report showing a 1.4 million increase in people living in poverty in 2022 compared to 2020. The report highlights that the government’s approach to delivering benefits and services has proven insufficient to improve economic conditions of historically marginalized groups, including Arab, Chinese and Black communities, Indigenous people, recent immigrants, people with disabilities and female-led households, who were the most likely to live below the poverty line. Reflecting feedback from people with lived experience of poverty, community organizations, academics, and experts, the report outlines several recommendations to address the high costs of living, improve access to benefits and services, and address poverty inequality, including by prioritizing the development of non-market housing and expanding rental assistance programs.
Food Banks Canada published its annual report, revealing a record two million visits to food banks in 2024. This represents a six per cent jump from last year and a 90 per cent increase from 2019. Renters are hit particularly hard by food insecurity, with nearly 70 per cent of food bank clients living in market rental housing. Renters who relied the most on food banks were racialized people and immigrants who have lived in Canada for less than 10 years. The number of clients experiencing homelessness also rose from six per cent in 2019 to almost 10 per cent in 2024. The report shows that lower income households spend over 80 per cent of their income on food and housing alone, while the proportion of employed food bank clients nearly doubled since 2019. The report points to rapid inflation, high housing costs and inadequate social assistance as drivers of acute food insecurity. Findings from the report are echoed in Habitat for Humanity Canada’s Affordable Housing Survey, which shows that 75 per cent of renters have to sacrifice basic needs like food to contend with increasing housing costs. To address the root causes of food insecurity, Food Banks Canada is calling on governments to increase investments in affordable housing and improve rental assistance programs to help offset housing costs.
As parliamentary discussions resumed, the Canadian Housing and Renewal Association (CHRA) sent a letter to the Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities, calling on the federal government to double the share of community housing in Canada. Recommendations included prioritizing non-profit developers under the Public Lands for Homes Plan, accelerating the implementation of the Rental Protection Fund and investing in a Canada Community Housing Sector Growth Fund (CCHGF). CHRA and sector partners are proposing a plan to develop the CCHGF that would help strengthen the community housing sector through investments of $160 million over five years. These investments would help provide financial resources to improve organizational capacity and culturally sensitive programming of community housing providers through training, capacity building, and knowledge transfer. The proposed CCHGF builds on the success of existing initiatives implemented in Nova Scotia, Nunavut, and Newfoundland and Labrador through the work of the Community Housing Transformation Centre.
Through a freedom of information request, a 2021 report commissioned by the provincial government was recently released that sheds light on how a rental registry could protect renters from illegal rent increases. The Green Party has called for a rent registry since 2019 but one has never been implemented. P.E.I. has rent control and vacancy control, which prevents landlords from increasing rents beyond the provincial guidelines, even when the unit is passed on to a new renter. After amending its Residential Tenancy Act last year by requiring landlords to disclose the previous rent in lease agreements, the province considered a rent registry to be unnecessary. However, advocates from P.E.I. Fight for Affordable Housing say that even if landlords are obligated to provide that information, there is no monitoring mechanism available for renters to confirm if the information is accurate. Former federal Green Party candidate Darcie Lanthier created a community-sourced rental registry to help renters across the province access that information and guide them in the process of filing a rent dispute. Since the registry was launched two years ago, many renters have been able to challenge illegal rent increases and were compensated over $100,000 by the Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission.
The New Brunswick Coalition for Tenants’ Rights released a report examining rental housing in the province between 2020 and 2023. The report reveals that 27 per cent of renters cannot afford their rent and are afraid of losing their homes, owing to average rents rising by almost 30 per cent in the three-year period. The report calls on all political parties to strengthen renters’ rights through the introduction of a permanent rent cap tied to inflation and the establishment of a housing tribunal to adjudicate disputes between renters and landlords, including ruling on eviction proceedings. The existing Tenant and Landlord Relations Office can mediate between the two parties but has limited power to enforce provisions of the Residential Tenancies Act (RTA). The report also recommends the inclusion of social housing tenants under the RTA and extending and funding legal aid to address landlord-tenant disputes.
Recently elected Premier Susan Holt’s housing plan aligns with the report’s recommendations and has been welcomed by the Coalition. New measures promised by the Liberal government include building 30,000 new homes, establishing a fund to support non-market housing providers, eliminating the provincial sales tax on multi-unit developments, and increasing investments in modular housing projects. Chief amongst those measures is the introduction of a flexible rent cap set at three per cent and tied to the Consumer Price Index. The initial rent cap would be reviewed annually and would not prevent property owners from applying additional rent increases to offset capital expenditures for major renovations. In an interview with CBC, CCHR’s Manager of Policy, Sara Beyer, said the proposed rent increase guidelines contain promising measures, but warned that without tying rent increases to the unit through vacancy control and the elimination of fixed-term leases, landlords could be incentivized to evict tenants to get around rent increase guidelines. She added that the proposed legislation will need strong monitoring and enforcement mechanisms to address these gaps.
Several Ontario mayors sent a letter to the Premier asking for more power to evict people from encampments and force them into addiction treatment. The request includes the use of the notwithstanding clause under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms to override other parts of the Charter for five years and bypass court decisions preventing municipalities from clearing encampments. A 2023 ruling prevented the Waterloo Region from removing an encampment without providing alternative shelter options, declaring that such evictions would constitute a violation of Charter-protected rights of encampment residents. Using the notwithstanding clause could invalidate similar rulings and would override the very rights the Charter is meant to protect. In addition, mayors are asking the province to review the Mental Health Act and the Health Care Consent Act to expand the scope of involuntary treatment for people experiencing both homelessness and addictions. Other measures proposed in the letter amount to the criminalization of homelessness. Both the mayors’ requests and the Premier’s response have sparked outrage amongst encampment residents and advocates, spurring the launch of petitions, campaigns, and a counter letter from a larger group of mayors and councillors opposed to the use of the notwithstanding clause and calling for human-rights based solutions to homelessness. The Canadian Centre for Housing Rights, National Indigenous Women’s Housing Network, National Right to Housing Network, and Women’s National Housing and Homelessness Network issued a joint statement outlining how the use of the notwithstanding clause would undermine the right to housing and the rule of law, and calling on mayors to rescind their petition to the Premier. The statement also calls on all elected officials across Ontario to uphold the right to housing and the rights protected under the Charter.
On October 28, the Saskatchewan Party won a fifth consecutive term with a majority government. A Rentals.ca survey conducted during the campaign found that housing was a key factor in the voting decision of 60 per cent of Saskatchewanians, with 78 per cent of respondents citing high rents as a top concern. With education and healthcare having been the leading issues of the electoral campaign this year, housing platforms of leading candidates emphasized the importance of tying housing and homelessness programs to mental health and addiction supports. Saskatchewan Party Leader Scott Moe announced a homelessness action plan focused on recovery-oriented care, with 500 new addiction treatment centres in the pipeline and additional funding to increase the number of beds in emergency shelters and transitional housing, including by creating new complex needs emergency shelter spaces. However, safe consumption sites will be dismantled and no new measures for renters have been proposed. For its part, the NDP platform focused on restoring old or vacant government-owned housing and introducing new legislation to protect renters from excessive or unreasonable rent increases. NDP Leader Carla Beck also proposed an “all-of-the-above” approach to tackle homelessness, with increased funding for mental health and addiction support services.
Based on a systemic review conducted by the Federal Housing Advocate (FHA), the Métis Nation – Saskatchewan and the FHA launched a report on housing precarity and homelessness in Métis communities. The report details housing conditions and experiences in Métis communities across Saskatchewan, in particular in rural, remote and Northern areas, and examines the colonial roots of the systematic denial of Métis peoples’ right to housing. As a result of historic barriers to adequate housing, Métis communities experience disproportionately high rates of homelessness and housing precarity, evidenced by a chronic lack of basic infrastructure and services, lack of proper building and property maintenance standards and a crucial lack of emergency shelters and transitional housing. The report makes several recommendations to all levels of government to dismantle barriers to housing for Métis in Saskatchewan, including by correcting past and present government actions and policies rooted in colonial and racist systems, and emphasizes the importance of recognizing and preserving Métis identity through culturally appropriate housing solutions.
Housing affordability was at the heart of the provincial election, with 41 per cent of voters ranking housing, homelessness and poverty as the most important electoral issues, followed by health care and the economy. The party leaders each proposed comprehensive measures to address British Columbians’ top concern during the campaign.
NDP Leader David Eby’s campaign built on the existing measures implemented during his first term as Premier, maintaining legislation on upzoning, transit-oriented development, short-term rental restrictions and doubling the Speculation and Vacancy Tax which has facilitated the return of 20,000 vacant properties into the long-term rental market. In addition, the NDP promised to build 300,000 affordable homes, invest $2 billion in the BC Builds program to leverage underutilized land for affordable rental housing development, invest $500 million in the Rental Protection Fund for non-profit developers to purchase and preserve existing rental housing, and introduce building standards to boost the construction of prefabricated homes.
Conservative Leader John Rustad ran a campaign centered around deregulation, proposing to eliminate provincial legislation around short-term rental restrictions, residential densification and taxation of vacant properties. Instead of requiring municipalities to set housing targets, Rustad promised to set municipal permit approval deadlines, work with municipalities to pre-zone areas for housing development and support municipal infrastructure development through a $1 billion annual fund tied to housing starts.
B.C. Greens Leader Sonia Furstenau spoke of the financialization of housing and campaigned for significant public investments in non-market housing, a property transfer tax on the sale of residential units to real estate investment trusts and legislation to recognize housing as a human right, including by strengthening renter protections and regulating rents through vacancy control.
Polls showed that British Columbians supported most of the housing measures proposed by the NDP. On October 28, the NDP won a close majority in the election, indicating a renewed, albeit conditional trust in the Premier’s housing plan.
Municipalities across Ontario are implementing bylaws that seek to strengthen protections for renters. Following Hamilton and Toronto, London recently adopted a new renovictions bylaw, which requires landlords to obtain a renovation license and report stating the need for a unit to be vacant for renovations to proceed. While the bylaw aims to deter bad faith renovictions, some councilors and advocates called for it to be strengthened through more substantial penalties for landlords and additional supports for displaced renters. Meanwhile, Brampton’s rental licensing pilot program, aimed at addressing rental housing maintenance and safety issues, has led to 4,700 inspections and over 600 penalty notices. Despite some landlord opposition to the program, councilors noted the program’s success in identifying and addressing rental housing issues.
A new supportive housing initiative was inaugurated in Toronto and is Canada’s first housing model that integrates healthcare services and wraparound supports for unhoused hospital patients. In partnership with the University Health Network (UHN), the non-profit organization Fred Victor will be providing 51 permanent, rent-geared-to-income homes with health and social supports on site to help UHN’s unhoused patients exit homelessness and receive stable care. In addition to a health clinic in the building, residents will also have access to various community-based supports, case management supports, legal aid and harm reduction resources. This continuum of care includes 24/7 property management staff experienced in trauma-informed care and personal support workers for residents with disabilities. Co-designed with an advisory of lived experts and through extensive consultations with experts, advocates and unhoused patients, the project is rooted in the knowledge that stable and adequate housing can improve health outcomes by integrating housing and healthcare services.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consetetur sadipscing elitr, sed diam nonumy eirmod tempor invidunt ut labore et dolore magna aliquyam erat, sed diam voluptua. At vero eos et accusam et justo duo dolores et ea rebum. Stet clita kasd gubergren, no sea takimata sanctus est Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consetetur sadipscing elitr, sed diam nonumy eirmod tempor invidunt ut labore et dolore magna aliquyam erat, sed diam voluptua. At vero eos et accusam et justo duo dolores et ea rebum. Stet clita kasd gubergren, no sea takimata sanctus est Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consetetur sadipscing elitr, sed diam nonumy eirmod tempor invidunt ut labore et dolore magna aliquyam erat, sed diam voluptua. At vero eos et accusam et justo duo dolores et ea rebum. Stet clita kasd gubergren, no sea takimata sanctus est Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consetetur sadipscing elitr, sed diam nonumy eirmod tempor invidunt ut labore et dolore magna aliquyam erat, sed diam voluptua. At vero eos et accusam et justo duo dolores et ea rebum. Stet clita kasd gubergren, no sea takimata sanctus est Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consetetur sadipscing elitr, sed diam nonumy eirmod tempor invidunt ut labore et dolore magna aliquyam erat, sed diam voluptua. At vero eos et accusam et justo duo dolores et ea rebum. Stet clita kasd gubergren, no sea takimata sanctus est Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consetetur sadipscing elitr, sed diam nonumy eirmod tempor invidunt ut labore et dolore magna aliquyam erat, sed diam voluptua. At vero eos et accusam et justo duo dolores et ea rebum. Stet clita kasd gubergren, no sea takimata sanctus est Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consetetur sadipscing elitr, sed diam nonumy eirmod tempor invidunt ut labore et dolore magna aliquyam erat, sed diam voluptua. At vero eos et accusam et justo duo dolores et ea rebum. Stet clita kasd gubergren, no sea takimata sanctus est Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consetetur sadipscing elitr, sed diam nonumy eirmod tempor invidunt ut labore et dolore magna aliquyam erat, sed diam voluptua. At vero eos et accusam et justo duo dolores et ea rebum. Stet clita kasd gubergren, no sea takimata sanctus est Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consetetur sadipscing elitr, sed diam nonumy eirmod tempor invidunt ut labore et dolore magna aliquyam erat, sed diam voluptua. At vero eos et accusam et justo duo dolores et ea rebum. Stet clita kasd gubergren, no sea takimata sanctus est Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consetetur sadipscing elitr, sed diam nonumy eirmod tempor invidunt ut labore et dolore magna aliquyam erat, sed diam voluptua. At vero eos et accusam et justo duo dolores et ea rebum. Stet clita kasd gubergren, no sea takimata sanctus est Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.
Get the latest updates about the right to housing in Canada
