Toronto Renters Forum
Common Tenant Problems => Rent => Topic started by: Richard on November 16, 2022, 10:38:34 pm
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Doug Ford's Plan To End Rent Control Is A Flashback To 20 Years Ago
https://www.huffpost.com/archive/ca/entry/doug-ford-rent-control_ca_5cd57857e4b07bc729786031 (https://www.huffpost.com/archive/ca/entry/doug-ford-rent-control_ca_5cd57857e4b07bc729786031)
Today, millionaire Premier Doug Ford introduced a plan to end rent control on all new units in Ontario. It was a startling reversal of his May campaign promise: "When it comes to rent control, we're going to maintain the status quo."
For tenant advocates, it was a flashback to 20 years earlier.
In 1997, the Mike Harris government gutted rent control.
At the time, Ontario had something called "vacancy rent control" (also called "Quebec-style" rent control) which limited how much the landlord could raise rent when a unit turned over and changed renters. The loss of this protection is why, 21 years later, a one bedroom in Toronto costs $2,200 to rent, while in Montreal you can find the same for about $1,000 cheaper.
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At the time, the government pulled a page out the old landlord-lobby communications playbook promising that "thousands and thousands of rental units" would be built as a result of ending rent control. Tenant advocates, on the other hand, predicted that few would be built and the only outcome would be soaring rents.
Sadly, tenant advocates proved correct. Purpose-built rental housing development flatlined, and Toronto is deep into a nightmarish affordable housing crisis. Today, finding an affordable place to live in Toronto is almost impossible, and the city's low-income population is being crushed under high rents or leaving altogether.