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.
The National Housing Strategy Act (NHSA) is Canada’s first piece of legislation that identifies housing as a fundamental human right as recognized under international law.
It recognizes that all people have the “right to live somewhere in security, peace and dignity” and provides the federal government with a mandate to develop and support rights-based housing policies to advance its commitment to progressively realize the right to housing over time.
The NHSA recognizes that housing is important for the inherent dignity of a person and that it helps to build communities that are inclusive.
Under the NHSA, the federal government is required to:
The NHSA does not require:
Although the NHSA does not provide an avenue for individuals to pursue a complaint related to a violation of their individual right to housing, if many people are facing a similar kind of issue which hinders the realization of their right to housing, this may be identified as a systemic issue.
Examples of systemic issues:
People who are affected by these and other types of issues related to the right to housing may make a submission to the Federal Housing Advocate to investigate and make recommendations to the responsible Minister to take action. In some cases, the Federal Housing Advocate may also refer the issues raised in a submission to a Review Panel for public hearings.
Three key mechanisms have been created under the NHSA to hold the federal government accountable to implement the right to housing:
Each of these mechanisms has a distinct role and set of responsibilities, and all three interact with one another. Together they provide an innovative and participatory model through which systemic housing issues and human rights claims can be presented by affected groups and reviewed outside of the judicial system.
Let’s take a closer look at their roles and responsibilities.
The Office of the Federal Housing Advocate is located within the Canadian Human Rights Commission. Its role is to promote and ensure compliance with the federal government’s policy to progressively realize the right to housing over time through various mechanisms and processes.
The Advocate is responsible to:
The National Housing Council is a body created to further the progressive realization of the right to housing and oversee the National Housing Strategy. The Council advises the Minister responsible for housing issues in Canada about the effectiveness of the National Housing Strategy, and promotes participation and inclusion in housing policy development.
The NHSA requires that the Council is made up of individuals as well as government representatives, and includes representation from vulnerable groups, people with lived experience of homelessness and inadequate housing, people reflecting the diversity of Canadian society, and people with human rights expertise. Through the make-up of this Council, people who are directly impacted by housing challenges across the country will be involved in vital decisions to assess and ensure the government’s compliance with the right to housing.
The Council is responsible to:
The role of the Review Panel is to hear selective cases of systemic issues that are identified by the Federal Housing Advocate. When the Federal Housing Advocate receives one or more submissions on a systemic issue, the Advocate may request the National Housing Council to form from its members a three-person Review Panel to hear such issues. The Review Panel will be selected to ensure representation from vulnerable groups, people with lived experiences, and human rights expertise.
The Review Panel is responsible to:
Making submissions to the Federal Housing Advocate on systemic issues that deny affected groups their right to housing is a critical new tool for claiming the right to housing. The Federal Housing Advocate will engage with affected groups and conduct a thorough investigation into the issue. The Advocate’s findings and recommendations will be based on what is required under international human rights law to ensure the right to housing, and they cannot be ignored by the government. If the Advocate refers the issue to a review panel, this will provide an additional opportunity for affected individuals and groups to be heard and to bring forth their claim to the right to housing.
These mechanisms ensure that affected groups can participate and contribute to the realization of their right to housing, which is a core component of a rights-based approach. The meaningful engagement of rights holders that is outlined in the NHSA can be an effective way to claim the right to housing as established under the tenets of international law.
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 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.
The Montreal Principles on the meaning and application of economic, social and cultural rights for women is the first international legal document of its kind. This plain language guide explains the Montreal Principles in a series of fact sheets that focus on key elements of the Principles.
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