The Government of Canada’s National Housing Strategy (NHS) commits to address the housing needs of the most vulnerable, promote community building and encourage partnerships to advance the right to housing. How will this be done?
This pamphlet examines the extent to which governmental budgeting and resource allocation is contributing to meeting the goals the federal government has set out in the NHS, as well as its commitments to implement the right to housing as outlined in the National Housing Strategy Act (NHSA).
This pamphlet was produced by the Canadian Centre for Housing Rights (CCHR) and the National Right to Housing Network (NRHN).
As a tenant in Ontario, it is important to know which laws apply to the type of housing you live in. Some of the laws that may impact your tenancy are:
The Residential Tenancies Act (RTA) is a law that defines what landlords and tenants are, and sets rules around their rights and responsibilities, tenancy agreements, repairs and maintenance, eviction and tenancy termination, rent and utility costs, care homes, mobile home parks and land lease communities. It also outlines the administration and enforcement of the law and offences under the RTA.
The RTA also defines the role and function of the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) as the exclusive body responsible to determine how the RTA must be applied. If tenants have concerns about their landlord or their tenancy, they can file an application with the LTB. When landlords want to evict tenants, they must also file an application with the LTB.
The Housing Services Act (HSA) provides rules related to subsidies for people who live in subsidized housing. Tenants who live in most subsidized housing are protected under the RTA and the HSA, as well as any additional rules set by their service provider, which is typically their municipal government.
The Co-operative Corporations Act provides rules and regulations for people who live in co-operative housing. Other rules are found in each housing co-operative’s own by-laws. Members of housing co-operatives are not considered tenants under the RTA, but they still have some rights and responsibilities under it.
The Retirement Homes Act provides rules and regulations for people who live in retirement homes. These individuals are protected under the RTA.
The Ontario Human Rights Code protects individuals from discrimination when dealing with a private organization. The Code does not protect every type of unfair treatment. Instead, it identifies different grounds upon which individuals should not face discrimination. If a person is treated badly or unfairly but their treatment is not connected with one or more of the protected grounds, then it is not considered discrimination under the Human Rights Code even though the person may be significantly impacted.
The sixteen grounds that are protected when accessing housing are:
Municipal by-laws determine whether basement apartments are legal in a community, and they also establish residential property standards. For example, municipal by-laws can set rules for minimum temperatures in a home, as well as how many people can live in an apartment.
The Ontario Fire Code, Building Code and Electrical Safety Code each set standards related to the construction and safety of different types of buildings.
The Residential Tenancies Act (RTA) applies to most social housing in Ontario, including Rent-Geared-to-Income (RGI) housing. However, some parts of the RTA do not apply to tenants in social housing, such as the rules about rent increases, subletting or assigning a lease.
The Housing Services Act (HSA) is the provincial legislation that governs the administration of social housing and RGI housing. It also governs community-based planning and delivery of housing and homelessness services with provincial oversight and policy direction. Service managers (who are often municipal governments) and housing providers have the power to make certain decisions under the HSA.
The HSA also outlines certain rights related to processes for determining eligibility for RGI housing such as:
Finally, each service manager has written policies and procedures that govern things like determining household income, rules for filling vacancies and for record keeping. In Toronto, these policies can be found in the RGI Administration Manual.
Some housing co-operatives and non-profit housing providers also provide rent-geared-to-income housing. Whether the HSA applies to these subsidized units is largely based on where the funding for the subsidy comes from.
It is important to find out if you are considered a tenant under the Residential Tenancies Act (RTA) because if you are not considered a tenant then the protection and rules of the RTA do not apply to you. Most people who pay rent to a landlord for a unit are considered a ‘tenant’ by the RTA because the definition of a tenant is very broad.
There are, however, exceptions to this definition. The most common exceptions are if you live in:
If the definition of a ‘tenant’ does not apply to you, or if one of the exceptions above excludes you, you may not have the rights and protections afforded under the RTA. Specifically, this means:
The Residential Tenancies Act’s (RTA) definition of a landlord is “the owner of a rental unit or any other person who permits occupancy of a rental unit.” The RTA also says that a landlord can be a person who acts as a representative for the owner of the rental unit, for example a family member or an employee of the landlord.
A roommate or another tenant of the same rental unit is not considered a landlord.
The RTA says that a landlord is not “a tenant who occupies a rental unit in a residential complex and who permits another person to also occupy the unit or any part of the unit.” In other words, if you pay your rent directly to another tenant who lives in the same unit as you – for example, a roommate – that other tenant is not considered to be your landlord under the RTA. In this scenario, you are in a different type of relationship that is not covered by the RTA. You may be in a licensee-licensor relationship, instead of a landlord and tenant relationship. If you find yourself in conflict with the person you pay rent to in this type of situation, you may want to seek legal advice or information.
Everyone in Ontario has the right to rent and live in a rental home without discrimination. For example, it is against the law for a landlord to refuse to rent to you because you have children, you are from another country, you have a mental or physical disability or because you practice a particular religion.
The Ontario Human Rights Code does not protect you against every type of unfair treatment. Instead, it identifies different grounds upon which individuals should not face discrimination. If a person is treated unfairly but the treatment is not connected with one or more of the protected grounds, then it is not considered discrimination under the Human Rights Code.
The sixteen grounds that are protected when accessing housing are:
If you think you have experienced discrimination in housing and it is connected to one of the grounds listed above, you can file an application with the Human Rights Tribunal.
When a complaint is filed with the Human Rights Tribunal, they will determine whether or not the Code has been violated. Applicants that file with the Human Rights Tribunal may need to attend a mediation session or a hearing and provide evidence of their complaint. If the Tribunal determines that there has been a violation of the Human Rights Code, the Tribunal may order a remedy, for example financial compensation.
If you have faced discrimination in housing, or would like more information about filing a complaint with the Human Rights Tribunal, please get in touch with us.
When signing a new lease, many landlords in Ontario will require a new tenant to provide a payment to cover the first month of their tenancy, as well the last month of their tenancy. This is known as a first and last month rent deposit.
If you are renting month-to-month, the landlord will hold onto your last month rent deposit for the duration of your tenancy, and it will be applied to cover the rent for the final month that you are renting the unit. A landlord cannot charge more than one month’s rent for the rent deposit.
A landlord can also charge a new tenant for a key deposit. This deposit cannot be more than the cost of a replacement key.
In Ontario, landlords are only allowed to request an upfront deposit for rent and keys. It is illegal for landlords to charge a damage deposit or a pet deposit. It is also illegal for landlords to require that you provide post-dated cheques.
If you disclose that you have a pet before a rental agreement is signed, the landlord is allowed to refuse the rental application. After a tenant enters a rental agreement, a landlord cannot evict them simply for having a pet, even if the lease has a “no-pets” clause.
If a current tenant’s pet causes a problem – for instance making unreasonable noise, causing severe allergic reactions, presenting a danger or causing damage – then a landlord could insist that a tenant get rid of their pet.
However, there are two exceptions:
Certain pets may not be allowed under city by-laws, and condominiums can make rules about pets, but the rules must be applied equally to tenants and owners.
If a pet is a support animal they must be allowed under the rules regarding reasonable accommodation, up until the point of undue hardship.
The Canadian Centre for Housing Rights (CCHR) provides free, individualized services to renters in Ontario who are facing challenges in their housing.
This page was produced as part of the project entitled “Implementing the Right to Housing in the Supportive Housing Sector” which receives funding from the National Housing Strategy under the NHS Demonstrations Initiative. The views expressed are the personal views of the author and CMHC accepts no responsibility for them.
Your landlord may want you to move out for any number of reasons, but only some reasons are legally allowed under the Residential Tenancies Act (RTA). Your landlord cannot evict you for reasons outside of the RTA and must apply to the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) for a formal eviction.
Before applying to have you evicted, your landlord must provide you with a Notice to End your Tenancy, by using one of the forms found on the Landlord and Tenant Board Website. The most common reasons for eviction include:
You have until midnight on the day that rent is due to pay your landlord. However, if you are even one day late, your landlord can give you a Form N4, or a Notice to End your Tenancy Early for Non-payment of Rent. If you receive a Form N4, you normally have 14 days to pay what you owe to cancel the notice and avoid the eviction process.
If you are often late with rent, your landlord might give you a Form N8, also called a Notice to End your Tenancy at the End of the Term. This type of notice cannot be automatically cancelled after you have paid what you owe, but you may be able to avoid an eviction hearing at the LTB by making an agreement directly with your landlord to pay your rent on time going forward.
Your landlord may evict you if they think you did something illegal or allowed someone to do something illegal – such as selling drugs or assaulting someone – in your rental unit or building. In this case, your landlord might give you a Form N6, or a Notice to End your Tenancy for Illegal Acts or Misrepresenting Income in a Rent-Geared-to-Income Rental Unit.
You could be served a Form N5, or Notice to End your Tenancy for Interfering with Others, Damage or Overcrowding, if your landlord says you have engaged in bad conduct of some kind. For example, if your landlord says you have damaged your rental unit or building, or that you bothered other tenants or the landlord’s staff, they might serve you with an N5. If you have only received one N5 within a 6-month time period, you have 7 days to cancel the notice by doing what is requested on the form. If you have received more than one N5 notices in 6-months, then you likely cannot cancel the notice, and should seek legal support.
Another reason why you may receive an N5 is overcrowding, where too many people are living in the unit exceeding the occupancy standards required by municipal bylaws. If this is your first N5, you can void the notice by removing the extra person(s) within 7 days of receiving the notice. If this is your second N5, you may not be able to void the notice, and the landlord may be able to apply to the LTB for an eviction.
If your landlord lives in the building as well and it has few units, or says you damaged your place on purpose, or have caused (or might cause) “serious” damage by using your space for something that isn’t compatible with residential uses, they can serve you with a Form N7, or Notice to End your Tenancy For Causing Serious Problems in the Rental Unit or Residential Complex. This type of notice is one that you cannot void.
Sometimes, a building requires work that cannot be done with people living inside it. If your landlord says you have to move out for necessary repairs or renovations, they are required to give you at least 120 days notice in writing. Such notice should be on a Form N13, or Notice to End your Tenancy Because the Landlord Wants to Demolish the Rental Unit, Repair it or Convert it to Another Use, from the LTB. This notice can also be used if the landlord is demolishing your home, or converting it to a non-residential use.
If you are being evicted for this reason, the landlord will either have to provide you with an acceptable alternative unit or compensate you, as long as they haven’t been ordered to do the work by a government or safety authority. If you are being evicted because your landlord is renovating, the landlord must first give you the option to re-occupy the freshly renovated unit before they are allowed to offer the unit to another person.
Your landlord may try to evict you because they or their family wants to move in themselves. If your place is being sold, your landlord is also allowed to evict you on behalf of the buyer if the buyer or the buyer’s family intends to move in. You may also be evicted if a caregiver for your landlord, purchaser, or their family members will be moving into your unit. This can only be legally done if your landlord is an individual and not a business – a corporation cannot claim to use the unit for its “own use”.
In such cases, the landlord must give you written notice in the form of a Form N12, or Notice to End your Tenancy Because the Landlord, a Purchaser or a Family Member Requires the Rental Unit. If you agree to move out of your unit, your landlord must either offer you another acceptable unit to move to or pay you at least one month’s rent by the termination date on the Notice. If you decide to challenge your landlord’s notice, you do not need to move, but your landlord must still pay you one month’s rent by the termination date on the notice. You may need to return that money if the LTB does not order you to move.
If you are being evicted and are unsure of your rights, CCHR may be able to assist you.
CCHR is only able to provide legal information, and cannot provide legal advice or representation. If you require additional legal supports, please contact your local legal clinic.
The date that your landlord wants you to move out by should be listed on a Notice to End your Tenancy. Different notices require the landlord to provide you with a different number of days of notice. Some of the most common reasons and their minimum notice periods are:
There are other, less common, reasons why you might be evicted.
If you are being evicted, CCHR may be able to assist you with legal information and referrals.
You might decide to move out after your landlord gives you a Notice to End your Tenancy. However, you do not have to move out just because you received a Notice to End your Tenancy. Whatever you do, you should keep a copy of your Notice.
At this stage, you might still be able to stop the eviction process. Depending on your landlord’s reasons, you could try:
If you do not want to move out and cannot resolve things with your landlord, they can apply to the LTB for an eviction order. If they do so, the LTB will send you a Notice of Hearing and an Application. The Notice of Hearing will give you details of how your hearing will take place. It should include a time, date and location of hearing, which will probably be an online meeting space.
You can take some steps to prepare for your hearing, including:
It is important that you go to the hearing. If you do not attend or arrive late, it is likely that the LTB will make an eviction order against you.
Your Notice of Hearing should say how your hearing will be held. Hearings are held in one of four different formats:
Hearings take different amounts of time, based on things like the number of witnesses, the issues at hand, and the evidence presented. For oral and video hearings, several hearings are booked on the same day. Be prepared to wait for your case to be called, and plan to be at your hearing for the entire day just in case your hearing is called later in the day. If you will be unable to attend the hearing yourself, you may send a representative if you provide written authorization to that person. They may then argue your case, or request to change the date of the hearing.
Before your hearing, you will have the opportunity to request a Mediator and Tenant Duty Counsel. Mediators attempt to help landlords and tenants to come up with compromises that each party can live with. It is voluntary and confidential. Tenant Duty Counsel are legal professionals who help tenants for free on the day of their hearing. While you do not need an appointment to speak to either a mediator or Tenant Duty Counsel, you should arrive promptly at the start of your hearing to ensure that you have a chance to consult them before your file is called.
If you are representing yourself and don’t understand something that is being said, ask the LTB members or other participants to explain. While the LTB member cannot give you legal advice or tell you how best to present your case, they may slow down the proceedings or explain the process in more detail.
If you require language interpretation, or a disability accommodation, contact the LTB in writing to make those arrangements. Keep a copy of any letters you send to the LTB. It is prudent to arrange your own back-up interpreter as well, and to speak to Tenant Duty Counsel before your hearing if you are not represented.
The hearing process on the day of your hearing will be as follows:
At the end of the hearing, the LTB member will either give their decision right away, or “reserve their decision.” This means that they will take time to consider the evidence and submissions. In both cases, you will receive the decision in writing.
If you are being evicted and are unsure of your rights, CCHR may be able to assist you with legal information and referrals.
CCHR is only able to provide legal information, and cannot provide legal advice or representation. If you require additional legal supports, please contact your local legal clinic.
The Canadian Centre for Housing Rights (CCHR) provides free, individualized services to renters in Ontario who are facing challenges in their housing.
Throughout 2021, CCHR and the National Right to Housing Network (NRHN) held a series of regional workshops with local partners across Canada.
During these workshops, participants identified the systemic issues that prevent people from realizing their right to housing, including issues faced by: Indigenous people, women-led households, persons with disabilities, members of racialized groups, immigrants and refugees, members of LGBTQ2S+ communities and people with low incomes.
Participants have also proposed solutions for how this right can be claimed under the National Housing Strategy Act (NHSA).
Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut
In partnership with:
British Columbia
In partnership with:
Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba
In partnership with:
Quebec
This workshop was led by:
Note: this report is only available in French.
Ontario
In partnership with:
New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador
In partnership with:
Renters who are facing eviction have several resources at their disposal to help them take the necessary steps to protect their right to housing. This pamphlet includes a list of resources for each province and territory in Canada to inform renters about the provincial and territorial laws that protect their tenancy, the bodies that make decisions about their tenancy, where they can receive legal help and all other protections available beyond provincial legislation.
This pamphlet was produced by the Canadian Centre for Housing Rights (CCHR) – formerly known as CERA – and the National Right to Housing Network (NRHN).
Inclusionary Zoning (IZ) is a planning tool used by municipal governments to encourage or mandate developers who intend to build new dwellings, to “set aside” a portion of these units for affordable use. Such units may be allocated for sale or lease at affordable rates. Developers may also have the option of building the affordable units in other locations within a city, or they may be able to pay cash in lieu of actually developing the units. Municipal governments may offer incentives such as further relaxations on building height or “density bonusing” to generate more investments from developers in affordable housing.
The rationale for adopting the policy partly stems from a general failure among many local governments to effectively leverage the dynamics of the market to create affordable housing options for low - and moderate-income people. For instance, in Toronto out of the 230,000 new housing units that were constructed or slated for development over the last five years, only 2% offered rents at or below market rates. Most of the new buildings are condominiums or detached homes. Housing options available for those living on fixed incomes like seniors or for people making a living off precarious employment like many young adults, are negligible.
Local planning and infrastructure investment decisions have created conditions to promote private development activity in major cities across Canada, but not enough affordable housing has emerged out of this process. Specifically, zoning amendments such as density relaxations and encouragement of mixed -use development signal greater economic activity, in turn promoting speculative behaviour in land markets. Prospective investors and developers make projections about potential development revenues generated based on the policy changes and related market and operational variables, in practice materializing into inflated investments in land. To maximize profit margins, new housing built on these lands are priced at rates that are targeted towards higher income earners.
The strategy is thus investor driven - one that endeavours to increase returns at exponential rates. The housing needs of households in the low- and moderate-income range are effectively overlooked, leading to a form of market failure that warrants some form of government intervention. Indeed, public policy appears to have created conditions for the development industry to reap windfall profits without many conditions in place to capture a meaningful portion of the proceeds for the greater needs of the public.
IZ closes part of this gap. By requiring or negotiating with developers to provide affordable housing options either directly or through cash in lieu, evidence from most jurisdictions that have experimented with the policy shows that affordable options can be created over time with varying levels of success. Plus, it is likely that the restrictive orientation of the IZ policy tool has a dampening effect on the skyrocketing prices of land in many cities.
Opponents of the policy tend to point to the policy’s cost prohibitive design. This, they suggest, leads to rising house prices, the burdens of which are carried by prospective homeowners, or supply could be constricted at a city-wide level. However, the theoretical basis and evidence to support such claims are fragile.
Firstly, property buyers tend to be sensitive to dramatic price shifts, so developers are left with little room to pass on high costs to these groups without risking losing market share. To the extent that there may be some increase in house prices in select cases, the role of IZ in this increase is minimal. In areas such as the Washington-Baltimore region, where the effects of the policy on supply have been studied, there appears to be no evidence of any negative effects after the introduction of the IZ policy.
While IZ clearly demonstrates potential, it can only work in cities with hot property markets, ones which are experiencing population and economic growth. If house prices are not escalating rapidly enough, then developers do not have the room to internalize the costs of the policy and generate sufficient returns. In fact, within cities, some neighbourhoods might be experiencing faster growth than others, implying the need for a differentiated approach to applying the policy.
Further, IZ primarily benefits moderate-income earners. A private developer can only do so much in creating affordable housing options. To sustain the arrangement, the prospective homeowner or renter must be earning a reasonable income generated from employment. This helps cover costs of rent or mortgage as well as maintenance and repairs over time. Its potential of helping meet the needs of this group is significant. Persistent shortfalls in affordable housing options can increase the risk of labour shortages on account of pricing out such households who then seek out cheaper options in other jurisdictions.
However, households in lower income categories such as newcomers and single-parent families have limited mobility options given that economic opportunities and social and physical infrastructure tend to be concentrated in larger cities. Neglecting such groups threatens the very economic dynamism and social fabric of large metropolises. A creative IZ policy that includes provisions for more stringent affordability requirements in some areas along with additional supports may hold some potential in covering a wider spectrum of income groups including households living in more precarious economic conditions.
Several European countries have experimented with various forms of IZ over the years. The United States, given its long history with implementing the policy, and comparable federal structure to Canada is noteworthy. IZ started emerging in the 1970s in American urban policy as federal housing programs started to wind down.
Today, there are over 500 IZ programs in about half of the country’s states, with jurisdictions ranging from large cities such as Chicago to smaller communities like Telluride, Colorado. The majority of initiatives is concentrated in California, New Jersey and Massachusetts. Key facts include:
The extent to which IZ can generate a significant number of affordable housing stock is contingent on the calibration of the policy, the permutations and combinations of which are determined by local context.
Montreal and Vancouver were the first Canadian cities to start experimenting with voluntary forms of inclusionary zoning. As provinces empower municipalities to adopt the policies, more are considering following suit. Notably, Toronto has proposed a mandatory program that will last for 99 years. Such actions point to an increasing recognition amongst municipal governments across Canada that value capture tools are a critical way to address the growing housing crisis in the country.
The right to adequate housing is derived from international human rights law. In international law, housing is seen as more than four walls and a roof. For housing to be considered adequate, it should meet a number of minimum conditions. One of these conditions is habitability, which means that adequate housing should guarantee its residents a place that is physically safe to live, provides adequate space where residents aren’t living in overcrowded conditions, and protects its residents against weather conditions like the cold, as well as other health or structural hazards.
Another minimum condition for a home to be considered adequate is the availability of services, materials, facilities and infrastructure. This means that its residents can access safe drinking water, have proper sanitation and disposal facilities, and can heat their home to just name a few examples. These minimum conditions ensure that a home is a safe and adequate place for its residents. When the right to housing and the conditions mentioned above are translated on the ground, it means that people can live in well maintained homes that are in a good state of repair. For Ontario renters, it is the responsibility of landlords to carry out maintenance and repairs, with regulations in place to hold them accountable.
The Residential Tenancies Act (RTA) is the Law that regulates the relationship between landlords and renters. The RTA applies to most rental housing in Ontario, such as rooms, apartments, houses, mobile home parks, and retirement homes. The RTA says that landlords are responsible for the maintenance and repair of everything that comes with renters’ homes, including appliances in the home and the common areas, such as hallways, parking garages and elevators. The RTA also says that landlords are responsible for taking steps to get rid of any pests and vermin, provide heat in cold weather, and are not allowed to cut off or interfere with any vital services such as the supply of water, electricity, or heat.
If a renter has a problem in their home, the first step is to inform their landlord about it and ask them to fix it. It is best to do this in writing, such as sending it in an email. If the landlord does not fix the problem, the next thing the renter can do is to call 311. This move will connect the renter to the City’s services department, such as those enforcing Property Standards, who can send an inspector to investigate the problem and order the landlord to fix it.
At the City of Toronto, another resource for tenants dealing with repair and maintenance issues is RentSafeTO, which can also be reached by calling 311. RentSafeTO is a bylaw enforcement program that launched in 2017 to ensure that owners of multi-unit housing structures (with three or more storeys and 10 or more units), such as apartment building owners, adhere to the building maintenance standards in the city. One of the goals of the program is to ensure that tenants are living in safe and adequate conditions, and to hold landlords accountable to keeping their buildings in a good state of repair. Owners of these apartment buildings are required to register with RentSafeTO and are responsible for complying with the rules of the program. If a landlord is not complying with the maintenance standards, the RentSafeTO team can issue orders and charge landlords.
The RentSafeTO program can be a critical component of ensuring that rental homes are safe and adequate places for their residents. Since its launch, the RentSafeTO program has audited most apartment buildings across the city. However, the program has also been criticized for failing to effectively carry out its mandate. Some have pointed out that not all buildings registered with the program have been audited. Others have pointed to the lack of standard operating procedures, which has left tenants waiting to know when their maintenance and repair problem will be resolved. Housing advocates have also raised issues with the lack of knowledge about the program across various communities.
If a renter continues to face maintenance and repair issues that their landlord is not responding to, and there is no resolution at the municipal level, they can then apply to the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) – the body that resolves disputes between tenants and landlords. Renters can make an application based on maintenance and repair issues and ask the LTB for remedies like ordering the landlord to fix the problem or for a reduction in rent for the months during which the problem persisted. After renters make an application, a hearing is scheduled at the LTB where they can present their case, and show evidence to support it.
While it is crucial to have the LTB process in place, there are a number of challenges that renters face. Many renters often have to navigate the process by themselves without legal representation. They have to prepare for hearings on their own and gather the evidence they need to support their case. This requires legal know how. Additionally, sometimes hearings may take several months to be scheduled, which means that the problems in their rental home may not be fixed for a long period of time. Depending on the issue at hand, waiting for the hearing can mean living in unhealthy and hazardous situations. Meanwhile, if renters are successful at their LTB hearing, the financial remedies awarded, such as rent reductions, are not typically very high. In some cases, if the LTB orders a landlord to fix a problem, landlords may not follow the order and it can be challenging for tenants to get their landlord to do so.
The gaps in protections for renters, coupled with an affordable housing crisis, means that many individuals living on lower incomes are forced to stay in homes that are in a state of disrepair as there are limited alternatives they can afford. This has become a widespread phenomenon that can be identified as a systemic housing issue.
In order to respond to systemic housing issues plaguing the living conditions of many renters living in Canada, it is important that the voices of those most impacted are heard by decision-makers. One of the main ways that people living in Canada can bring forward these systemic housing issues is through the National Housing Strategy Act (NHSA), which recognizes the right to housing domestically. The NHSA requires the government to create mechanisms to monitor the implementation of the right to housing and address systemic housing issues. One of these mechanisms is the Federal Housing Advocate, who is an independent human rights expert located within the Canadian Human Rights Commission. The role of the Housing Advocate is to investigate systemic housing issues and to hold our government accountable to meet its own policy to progressively realize the right to housing over time.
Once the Housing Advocate is appointed, submissions can be made by impacted communities on systemic housing issues. It is the hope that as renters learn more about these mechanisms, they can use them to push our governments to address systemic housing issues, such as those related to maintenance and repair.
If you live in on-campus housing, the rules in the Residential Tenancies Act most likely do not apply to your living situation because of s. 5(g) of the Act. To know your rights, obligations and recourses, you must look at the agreement you signed with the university and your university’s housing policies. The agreement and policies may include a complaints procedure and process, with a final recourse to the court system if the issue cannot be solved internally.
While the Residential Tenancies Act may not apply to your on-campus housing situation, the Human Rights Code of Ontario does. If you feel that you are being discriminated against by on-campus housing administrators or if you are not receiving disability accommodations that you require in your college housing, you can file an application with the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal under the Human Rights Code.
The remainder of this FAQ post discusses leases that are subject to the Residential Tenancies Act.
Generally, tenants can transfer their rental unit to someone else for a period of time. This is referred to as a sublease. In a sublease, the individual who moves into the rental unit is called a subtenant. The subtenant is responsible to the tenant, who is responsible to the landlord. The subtenant often pays rent directly to the original tenant, who then pays the landlord.
Section 97 of the Residential Tenancies Act requires that you get consent from your landlord to sublet your unit. Your landlord cannot refuse to allow you to sublet the unit. If your landlord refuses to let you sublease to a specific person without good reason, you can file an A2 Application about a Sublet or an Assignment with the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB). At the hearing, the LTB may decide to make an order authorizing your sublease agreement, ending your tenancy, or confirming that the landlord’s refusal was reasonable.
When subletting your unit to someone else, the initial lease agreement between you and the landlord continues to exist. This means that if your subtenant causes damage to the unit or fails to pay rent, you may be held responsible.
If you want to transfer your rental unit to someone else permanently, that is called assignment and has similar rules to subletting, except you are no longer responsible for the unit after the other tenant takes over the lease.
A landlord cannot control who you invite over to your home. In fact, in certain circumstances, if your landlord tries to limit who you can invite over, this may be considered harassment. However, if you live in subsidized housing, landlords may restrict the length of your guests’ visits.
It is important to note that under s. 34 of the Residential Tenancies Act, you are responsible for your guest’s actions while they are at your apartment building. For example, if they break something, commit a crime, or substantially interfere with other tenants, your landlord may have grounds to evict you.
Under the Human Rights Code, landlords are allowed to ask for a guarantor, also called a co-signer, when you sign a lease. This is to ensure that, if you do not pay rent, your guarantor will. Landlords most commonly ask for guarantors when the potential tenant has a low credit rating, bad landlord references or a history of missed or late rent payments. However, landlords cannot ask that you provide a guarantor for a discriminatory reason under the Human Rights Code.
In general, tenants must give proper notice. For a fixed-term tenancy or a month-to-month tenancy, you must give at least 60 days’ notice. If you pay rent daily or weekly, and you are not in a fixed-term tenancy, then you must give at least 28 days’ notice.
There are, however, a few ways you can legally terminate a lease early.
If you and your landlord come to a mutual agreement about ending the lease early, you can move out by an agreed upon date. It is best to fill out the N11 Agreement to End the Tenancy form available from the Landlord and Tenant Board to set this agreement out in writing to avoid confusion or misunderstanding.
If you can find another individual to take over your lease agreement, which is referred to as assignment, you can move out before the end of your lease. In this situation, the lease is transferred to someone new. There are rules in place that could release you from your lease if the landlord refuses to let you assign your tenancy.
Additionally, Ontario has used a standard lease form since 2018. If your landlord did not use the standard lease form for your lease agreement after April 2018, there is a process you can use to terminate your lease early.
Lastly, if your landlord has not upheld their obligations under the Residential Tenancies Act, you may be able to end your lease early through an application to the Landlord and Tenant Board.
If you or a child are a victim of domestic or sexual violence occurring in your home, you may be able to terminate a lease with 28 days’ notice by providing your landlord with the N15 Tenant’s Notice to End my Tenancy Because of Fear of Sexual or Domestic Violence and Abuse and the Tenant’s Statement About Sexual or Domestic Violence and Abuse. You might also want to consult the following resources for help in this situation: The Ontario Network of Sexual Assault/Domestic Violence Treatment Centres, the Barbara Schlifer Commemorative Clinic and Legal Aid Ontario. The Ontario government website also has a list of crisis and help lines, emergency shelters and victim services.
If you and your roommate rent the entire apartment and have each signed the lease, you are likely “joint tenants.” In this situation, both of you are jointly responsible towards the landlord. This means that if rent is not paid on time or damage is done to the unit, you can both be evicted or held responsible. If you signed separate leases with the landlord, or have locks on your bedroom doors, or moved in at different times, you may be “tenants in common”, and each responsible for your own behaviour.
If you signed the lease but your roommate did not sign the lease, they may be considered an “occupant”, which is not defined under the Residential Tenancies Act, and they may not be protected by the Act. Even though your roommate may still be subject to the terms of the lease, only you , as the tenant, are responsible and liable to the landlord. If your roommate does not pay their share of the rent, you would be held responsible.
Determining if your roommate is a joint tenant, a tenant in common or an occupant is not always easy. You can use this interactive tool to better understand what kind of relationship you have with your roommate. The Landlord and Tenant Board has the final say on what the true nature of the relationship is.
The Residential Tenancies Act does not mention roommate relationships. Therefore, if you have a dispute with your roommate, you will need to sort things out through conversation, negotiation, mediation or court. It may, therefore, be a good idea to create an agreement between roommates to create clear expectations for everyone in the apartment.
The Canadian Centre for Housing Rights (CCHR) provides free, individualized services to renters in Ontario who are facing challenges in their housing.
Discrimination is the differential and unjust treatment of people based on personal characteristics. It often occurs when people judge others based on stereotypes, prejudice, and biases. In the context of renting a home, renters can experience discrimination by their landlords. This can occur at many stages of the housing process including when a renter is searching for housing, when they apply for housing, or while the renter is living in their rental home.
Black people, Indigenous peoples, newcomers, those living on lower incomes, single mothers, members of the LGBTQIA2S+ community, young people, seniors, and families with children generally face higher levels of discrimination in housing. Many people can face multiple forms of discrimination based on their intersecting identities. For example, an Indigenous woman does not experience the world as an Indigenous person and as a woman separately. Instead, these identities intersect and she may experience multiple forms of oppression and discrimination at once as an Indigenous woman.
Discrimination can sometimes be overt. For example, a landlord who tells a single mother with two children that a two-bedroom unit is best suited for a couple without children is discriminating against her in an overt way based on family composition and marital status. However, discrimination can often be very subtle and difficult to identify. For example, a landlord requiring co-signors or guarantors for a newcomer renter is making renting difficult because most newcomers will not have a community or family to support them on that front. This form of discrimination is more indirect. It is referred to as constructive discrimination, where a policy or rule indirectly creates barriers for particular groups of people.
Other examples of discrimination may include:
The lack of available rental property in both Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) has forced many renters to put up with discrimination as they fear not finding another place to call home. While the vacancy rate in Toronto increased in 2020 to 3.4%, the vacancy rate for affordable rental units remained low. The vacancy rate for purpose-built rentals with rents ranging from $750 – $999 was 1.4%. This means that for every 1,000 affordable rental units in the city there were only 14 units available for rent. The low vacancy rate of affordable rental housing means that a landlord has access to a larger pool of renters to choose from and may base their choice on discriminatory grounds. Additionally, when rental housing is scarce, renters are more willing to stay in housing situations where they are being discriminated against by their landlord.
How does the Ontario Human Rights Code protect against discrimination?
The Ontario Human Rights Code seeks to ensure that all people are treated equally and that their rights are protected. The Ontario Human Rights Code (“the Code”) prohibits discrimination in housing based on the following protected grounds:
In addition to the Code, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms protects peoples’ rights to be treated equally under the law. Canada also has obligations under international law, in particular, under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the United Nations Charter, to ensure that all people are treated with dignity and that their human rights are respected. Canada has also signed several international treaties which commit the government to protect people from discrimination.
If a renter believes they have been discriminated against, they can file a claim to the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (the “Tribunal”). This claim must be made based on a protected ground under the Code and filed within one year of the event. Once the claim is filed, the application will be sent to their landlord who may then respond to the claim. The renter is then given the option of mediation before a hearing takes place. In mediation, the Tribunal will hear both sides of the dispute and try to find a resolution that satisfies both parties – the renter and the landlord. If a settlement is not reached or the renter chooses not to pursue mediation, their claim will go to a hearing. During the hearing, the parties will each present evidence to support their position to the adjudicator who will consider both sides and make a final decision. This process can be quite lengthy and onerous on renters. The Tribunal aims to hold a hearing within a year of an application being filed but this may take longer depending on the circumstances. Additionally, final decisions are usually given to the parties three to six months following the hearing.
What makes discrimination a systemic issue is when it is caused by patterns of behavior, policies or practices that are a part of the structures of our society, organizations and institutions which put certain groups at a disadvantage. We can determine whether systemic discrimination is occurring in different ways. We can look at data to see how many marginalized people are represented in an organization and how they are treated. We can look at the policies and decision-making of institutions to see if they exclude certain groups. This is because although policies may seem neutral on the surface, they do not affect everyone equally. We can also look at the culture of organizations to see if that leads to certain groups being marginalized or excluded.
Examples of systemic discrimination in housing may include:
In 2019, the federal government passed the National Housing Strategy Act (NSHA), Canada’s first piece of legislation to identify housing as a fundamental human right. Under the NHSA, the federal government is required to ensure that vulnerable groups can participate in developing housing policy. To encourage participation, the NHSA establishes several mechanisms allowing for systemic issues, including those related to discrimination, to come to the attention of policy makers.
Three mechanisms created under the NHSA are meant to hold the federal government accountable to implement the right to housing:
The National Housing Council has been established, while the Federal Housing Advocate is yet to be named. The Federal Housing Advocate role in particular, creates an opportunity for people and communities to bring systemic issues to its attention by allowing them to make a submission. The Federal Housing Advocate can then investigate these issues and make recommendations to the federal Minister responsible to find policy solutions.
Claims to the Federal Housing Advocate are different from claims at the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario in the following ways:
In addition to the federal mechanisms in place, the City of Toronto has also made a commitment to a rights-based approach to housing policy through its 10-year housing plan, the HousingTO 2020-2030 Action Plan.
The plan includes the establishment of the Housing Commissioner’s Office that will hold the City accountable for the right to housing and to its promise of addressing systemic housing barriers. The Commissioner will help the City create policies that are consistent with the right to housing and will monitor its progress in reaching its goals. Additionally, the Commissioner will ensure that vulnerable groups are consulted about housing policy and that the systemic issues they face will be brought to the attention of City Council. Similar to the Federal Housing Advocate role, the creation of the Housing Commissioner will provide an opportunity for groups to bring forward their experiences of systemic discrimination in housing. The City of Toronto’s Housing Commissioner has yet to be established.
Throughout the spring, summer and fall of 2021, the Centre for Equality Rights in Accommodation (CERA) and the Right to Housing Toronto (R2HTO) ran a 5-part virtual workshop series across Toronto and the GTA to address critical challenges in advancing the right to housing, and to build awareness of how to claim the right to housing under the National Housing Strategy Act and HousingTO 2020-2030 Action Plan.
#1: Using the National Housing Strategy Act and HousingTO Plan
Participants at this workshop had a rich conversation about systemic housing issues and how people can claim their right to housing under the National Housing Strategy Act and the HousingTO 2020-2030 Action Plan.
#2: Addressing Systemic Discrimination in Housing
Participants heard from people who have experienced discrimination in their housing and learned about the frameworks that protect communities from these issues. They also joined small groups to propose solutions to address these issues.
#3: Evictions and the Right to Housing
This workshop provided an overview of the international frameworks and provincial laws that protect renters from eviction and focused on trends in evictions during the pandemic. Participants learned about the National Housing Strategy Act and eviction prevention policies, and discussed how the right to housing can be realized over time.
#4: Addressing Maintenance & Repairs
This workshop provided an overview of the legal frameworks that protect renters’ right to adequate housing by ensuring that housing is habitable and in a good state of repair. Participants learned how maintenance and repairs in rental homes can be a systemic housing issue and discussed how communities can address these issues and claim their right to housing.
#5: Ways Forward in Claiming the Right to Housing in the GTA
The final workshop in our series provided an overview of the key issues we learned from our four previous workshops on the National Housing Strategy Act, discrimination in housing, evictions, and maintenance and repairs. A panel of advocates discussed solutions proposed in previous workshops and how to take collective action to claim the right to housing in the GTA.
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