Generally, landlords are permitted to enter a tenant’s unit with a minimum of 24 hours notice if they provide a valid reason. The current Emergency Order does not contain any rules or restrictions for landlords preventing them from entering a tenant’s unit. During the current lockdown, the provincial government has asked that landlords and tenants act with patience and understanding and follow public health guidelines. The Ontario provincial government has encouraged landlords to limit their notices to enter, but the current Emergency Order does not contain any legal changes to the law surrounding landlords entering a unit. Landlords are still able to issue notices of entry and they will expect to be able to enter the unit.
More information is available on the Ontario government’s COVID-19 page:
We recommend that you contact your landlord and ask about the health and safety precautions that will be taken when they enter your unit.
If your landlord refuses to take any health or safety precautions in line with public health guidelines, you may file a complaint with the Rental Housing Enforcement Unit.
How to file a complaint with the Rental Housing Enforcement Unit:
Your local community health centre may have more information and resources about how to approach the situation.
Many tenants have underlying health conditions or disabilities that make them particularly vulnerable to COVID-19. These tenants have often taken extra precautions to avoid contact with others and may be deeply frightened or concerned by a landlord’s request to enter their unit.
If you find yourself in this situation, you can ask that your landlord makes accommodation for you under the Ontario Human Rights Code.
Under the Code, your landlord is obligated to accommodate you, up to the point of “undue hardship”. If your concern about your landlord entering your unit is connected to a disability, you can request that your landlord accommodate your disability. This could include requesting that your landlord takes extra measures to maintain physical distance, uses specific personal protective equipment, or provides you with longer than the regular 24 hours prior notice before entering your unit, so that you have enough time to make arrangements to vacate the unit.
CCHR has a self-advocacy toolkit that walks tenants through the process of requesting accommodation from their landlord. If you have made a request, and you believe that you have not been properly accommodated by your landlord, you can file an application with the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario.
For more information about how to pursue an application at the Tribunal, reach out to the Human Rights Legal Support Centre:
Many people have been confused about eviction processes during the pandemic as a result of the various shutdowns, stay-at-home orders and state of emergency orders in Ontario.
On June 2, 2021, the stay-at-home order was lifted and the enforcement of evictions in Ontario resumed.
The Landlord and Tenant Board is currently open and issuing eviction orders.
If you have received a notice of eviction hearing, you should attend the eviction hearing as scheduled to defend yourself against an eviction order.
Please contact CCHR if you need help navigating the eviction process, and our case workers can provide legal information supports and referrals.
If an eviction is ordered by the Landlord and Tenant Board at a hearing, it must then be enforced by the Court Enforcement (or Sheriff’s) Office.
Falling behind on rent can be frightening and confusing, and the pandemic has created unique financial challenges that have caused many tenants to struggle to pay their rent.
If you have fallen behind on your rent, you should try to pay back the amount you owe (called “arrears”) as soon as possible. If you can pay back everything you owe, you may be able to avoid an eviction notice.
Visit our COVID-19 resource page for information about income support, financial aid, food services, and mental health services that may be available to you.
If you have received an eviction notice or notice of a hearing for unpaid rent, you should first make an effort to pay off the arrears that you owe before attending your hearing at the Landlord and Tenant Board.
There are several resources to support tenants through the eviction process, and to help them remain housed:
There are also rent relief or other financial resources that may be able to help you. Many of them are specific to your region or municipality. For information about rent relief and other financial resources in your area:
If you are in need of mental health support or counselling related to the pandemic or your housing, we encourage you to contact a crisis hotline or counselling service in your local area.
Contact:
Older adults may be particularly vulnerable to the negative effects of the pandemic lockdowns. If you are a senior and have concerns about your mental health, contact your local Seniors Active Living Centre for programs and supports.
The Canadian Centre for Housing Rights (CCHR) provides free, individualized services to renters in Ontario who are facing challenges in their housing.
This toolkit is designed to assist small-to-medium-sized landlords in implementing the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005 (AODA) and its accessibility standards. It should be read in conjunction with the AODA, its regulations and the accompanying resource guide. The guide is designed to provide you with information about the law and provide you with practical solutions to the accessibility challenges small-to-medium-sized landlords face.
In Ontario, landlords are prohibited from discriminating against rental applicants or tenants on sixteen grounds known as “prohibited grounds “. Some rental ads can be explicitly discriminatory while others discriminate “by accident”. Ontario Human Rights Commission states that “preferential” language choices by landlords are just as problematic as blatantly discriminatory word choices:
“Some landlords, when listing “selling points” to attract tenants, make statements that may discriminate, even if they don’t mean to. This often happens when you are trying to appeal to people you think may like the rental unit… These statements suggest that the landlord prefers some people over others. …These ads discourage good tenants from applying, because they think they won’t be treated fairly.”
Examples of explicit discriminatory language and preferential language:
The Ontario Human Rights Commission advises landlords to keep a few things in mind when write a rental ad.
Landlords are required to:
Landlords’ duties in case of request for accommodation:
Landlords are required to take accommodation requests from tenants with disabilities seriously and respond to them in a timely manner. Landlords are only able to deny an accommodation request if they can prove that meeting the request constitutes “undue hardship.”
A landlord can only claim undue hardship if accommodating a tenant would seriously threaten the financial viability of their business or endanger the health or safety of other tenants.
Both the landlord and the tenant should look into whether any outside sources of funding, such as government grants, are available to help pay for the cost of accommodation.
It is the responsibility of the landlord to prove undue hardship. They should consider:
CCHR is committed to making legal information relevant to the lives of those who need access to housing justice the most. This toolkit aims to equip youth and facilitators with the tools to develop strategies for human rights advocacy in housing within communities across Ontario, and to host workshops with youth to learn about housing rights and discuss their communities’ housing experiences.
This toolkit provides guidance to help people in Ontario with Environmental Sensitivities (sometimes called Multiple Chemical Sensitivities or “MCS”) request accommodations for a disability from their landlord under Ontario’s Human Rights Code. It was produced by the Canadian Centre for Housing Rights (CCHR), formerly called the Centre for Equality Rights in Accommodation (CERA).
This guide for service providers was developed by the Canadian Centre for Housing Rights (CCHR) when we were known as the Centre for Equality Rights in Accommodation (CERA), in partnership with the Metis Nation of Ontario and the Law Foundation of Ontario.
The 25-page guide is designed to help service providers assist their clients assert and enforce their legal rights in the Ontario housing market. The majority of the guide pertains to applications of the Ontario Human Rights Code to housing, but you will also find information about other relevant legislation including the Residential Tenancies Act (RTA) and Housing Services Act (HSA) where applicable. In the following pages you will find useful legal information, access to supports and effective strategies to help you empower your clients, and assist in facilitating their access to stable and adequate housing.
Inside the guide:
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