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Someone just pointed-out this government press release to me:

Ontario Providing More Support to the Landlord and Tenant Board

This press release claims:

Quote
The Ontario government is making an additional $1.4 million investment into the Landlord and Tenant Board, which will allow the board to hire over 35 additional operational staff to enhance scheduling and client experience, issue decisions and orders faster and help tackle the high number of cases before the board.

The funding builds on the $4.5 million investment over three years announced earlier this year, which will be used to recruit more adjudicators and further help the Landlord and Tenant Board to address longstanding backlog issues.

This all sounds fine, except that the adjudicators at the LTB are appointed by the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario on the recommendation of the Minister of the Attorney General.  So the number of adjudicators isn’t something that need funding, rather it’s just up to the government to do their job and make those appointments.

It seems that there was a lack of adjudicators back in 2018, just as Doug Ford’s conservative party came into power:

   Toronto Star: Shortage of adjudicators hits Landlord and Tenant Board

It is in this context that once should consider the appointments (or lack thereof) made by Doug Ford’s conservatives.  I have heard from several informed sources that the real problem with the LTB is that Ford stopped appointing replacement adjudicators which has lead to a significant shortage, and there is evidence to confirm that this is true.  This article includes a graph showing the number of adjudicators by year:

   CTV News: Most new Landlord and Tenant Board adjudicators in Ontario are part time: review

In that article there is a graph about half way down labelled “Landlord & Tenant Board Adjudicators”, and if you study that graph is becomes apparent that number of adjudicators starting falling significantly in 2018 – just as Doug Ford was first elected, and entirely under his watch.

It is also worth noting that the principal point being made in that CTVNews article is that the number of full-time adjudicators hasn’t recovered – the conservatives are hiring new adjudicators only part-time and this is causing new problems.

This seems to me that they have been sabotaging the Landlord and Tenant Board by failing to appoint adjudicators, and waiting for things to crumble and stop working perhaps hoping to be able to bring in sweeping changes – I’ve heard rumours that the conservatives would like to replace the LTB with something new and more “efficient” which would no doubt be terrible for tenants.

Anyway, this press release doesn’t impress me much – there wouldn’t be the huge back-log of cases at the LTB if Doug Ford’s conservatives had been appointing new adjudicators all along as they should have been.

- William


2

Jessica Bell says "Doug Ford's own housing affordability task force fails to address or provide recommendations to make rent more affordable for everyday"...   Link to Jessica Bell during Provincial Legislature Question Period


From a recent NDP newsletter:

Ford’s housing task force isn’t interested in building affordable homes
 
In February, the Government-backed Housing Affordability Task Force released its report. The report includes 55 recommendations designed to speed up the construction of new homes, including Lands Tribunal reform, giving the province greater power over construction and planning approvals, increasing density, and opening up farmland to urban sprawl.

While there are pieces of the housing report I support, like zoning reform to increase density and spur the construction of missing middle homes within existing neighbourhoods, I am frustrated by the report's failure to call for the construction of more affordable housing and introduce measures like vacancy control.

Ontarians are being crushed by the skyrocketing price of housing. People are sleeping in parks across Toronto because they have nowhere to go, rent for a single bedroom costs $1,800 per month, and families are putting off having children because a two-bedroom apartment now requires an income of $118,000. 

It’s past time Doug Ford invested in affordable housing and better protections for renters so everyone can live in a safe and affordable home that meets their needs. 

Watch my question here: https://www.facebook.com/UniRoseJessicaBell/videos/666705447870556/

QP Briefing is reporting the government is planning on bringing in a housing bill in the coming weeks. I will share the bill as soon as it is made available.



3
Reading the City of Toronto website, it was unclear to me whether masks would still be required to be worn in residential buildings past March 21, so I e-mailed the City asking for a clarification and am happy to report that I received a definitive answer (included below).

While many medical professionals recommend that people continue to wear masks in indoor public areas to blunt the rise in cases we will see between now and June, the legal requirement to wear a mask in common areas of the building will expire on Monday.  So to be clear, masks will no longer be required.

Please note that the reply from the City indicates that other COVID-stipulations will continue to apply, such as the requirement that your landlord provides hand sanitisers and cleans high-contact surfaces daily.  Also note that masks will still be required in some other locations, such as on public transit or in hospitals, etc.

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Good afternoon William,

I received your inquiry related to the Mask Bylaw from our Strategic Communications Team and wanted to follow-up regarding your question.

The City of Toronto’s Mask Bylaw (Bylaw 541-2020 as amended by Bylaw 664-2020), which requires businesses and organizations to have a masking policy for enclosed areas that are open to the general public, including for common areas of apartment buildings, will expire effective March 21, 2022. These changes coincide with changes to Government of Ontario masking requirements under the Reopening Ontario Act. Toronto residents must continue to comply with any provincial masking requirements.

Please note, the COVID-19-related amendments to Municipal Code Chapter 354: Apartments Building Bylaws, including but not limited to the need to provide hand hygiene stations or alcohol-based sanitizers, to clean frequently-touched surfaces in all open, common areas and to post Toronto Public Health signage, do not expire on March 21, 2022. Thus, these amendments will remain in effect and must continue to be followed until either they are extended by City Council or expire without extension after the conclusion of the next City Council meeting. For more information on the COVID-19-related by-law requirements, please visit COVID-19: Orders & Bylaws – City of Toronto.

Thank you,

Anastasia Demakos-Edmondson
Stakeholder Engagement Lead RentSafeTO
City of Toronto | Municipal Licensing & Standards


4

Excerpts from the LTB website...


On September 1, 2021, amendments to the Residential Tenancies Act 2006 (RTA) came into effect. You can read more about the amendments here:   September 1 Amendments to the RTA

1 – A landlord may now apply for an order requiring the tenant to pay the reasonable out-of-pocket expenses incurred by the landlord as a result of conduct by the tenant or someone else visiting or living in the rental unit which substantially interfered with landlord's reasonable enjoyment or lawful right, privilege or interest.

2 – A landlord may now apply for an order requiring the tenant to pay the reasonable out-of-pocket expenses incurred by the landlord as a result of the tenant not paying utility costs (utilities means heat, electricity and water) that they were required to pay under the terms of the tenancy agreement.

3 – A landlord may now file an application if the tenant moved out of the rental unit on or after September 1, 2021 and the landlord believes the former tenant owes them money for rent, utilities, etc.

4 – Landlords who are filing an L2 Application because the landlord, a purchaser or a family member requires the rental unit, or because they want to demolish the rental unit, repair it or convert it to another use, must now disclose in the application all previous N12 or N13 notices of termination given to any tenant in the last two years. 

5 – A tenant filing a T5 Application – Landlord Gave a Notice of Termination in Bad Faith can now ask the LTB to order a landlord to pay them up to 12 months' rent in compensation.


5

From the Office of MPP Jessica Bell:

Good evening,

MPP Jessica Bell will hold a virtual press conference tomorrow morning, Thursday October 7th at 9:30am to address her request to the Ombudsman to expand its investigation into whether the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) is meeting its duty to provide justice to Ontarians. The LTB processes over 80,000 cases a year and 90% of these cases are filed by landlords, filing for an eviction. The LTB is the second most complained about organization in Ontario (prisons and jails are first) and has not met its own service standards since 2017.

Housing and justice advocates know all too well how the now permanent move to online hearing has led to additional delays, and access to justice issues, especially for low and moderate income tenants. Here’s a summary of some of the concerns we have heard:

●        The LTB’s online hearing process is disorganized, chaotic and lengthy.

●        There continues to be long delays for a hearing, even for emergency cases. One constituent in our riding, a father of two children, was told he had to wait 70 days for a hearing after his landlord illegally locked him out of his home when he went to get vaccinated.

●        Many Ontarians are unable to fully participate in their online hearing, or even participate at all. To fully participate a person needs a fast internet connection, a computer, a lot of time on their hands, a room free of distraction, computer literacy skills, and written and verbal fluency in English or French. Lower income tenants, racialized and indigenous people and people living in rural areas are more likely to face literacy, numeracy, language, and technological barriers that impede them from fully participating online, sometimes they can call on via phone, or sometimes they don’t participate at all.[1]

●        The online format has made it very difficult for tenants to access free legal advice from duty council. Over 80% of landlords have access to legal representation, while only 2.6% of tenants do. Legal representation helps ensure hearings are fair.

You are invited to join our press conference tomorrow at 9:30 (details below) and we encourage you to send a supporting release or statement to insist on a more fair and just system for all.

Please be in touch if you have any questions and thank you.

The office of MPP Jessica Bell.


*************************
News Release:
*************************


MPP Jessica Bell (University-Rosedale), the Ontario NDP's Housing critic, will hold a virtual press conference Thursday to address her request to the Ombudsman to expand its investigation into whether the Landlord and Tenant Board is meetings its duty to provide justice to Ontarians.
 
Bell will be joined by a tenant who has faced technological and language barriers to accessing his virtual eviction hearing.
 
Thursday, Oct. 7
 
Time: 9:30 a.m.
 
Location: Zoom
 
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89526366432?pwd=emhvQUdPSVhBYlJRTStnR2lrQVEwQT09
 
Passcode: 444197
 




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Rent / Guideline Rent Increase for 2022 is 1.2%
« on: September 24, 2021, 11:04:54 am »

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