Own-use evictions are up 85 per cent in Ontario. That would be a stunning rise outside a housing crisis, but inside one — which we are — it’s something beyond that. It’s a disgrace and a serious problem.
The eviction provision is designed to permit landlords to evict a tenant so that they can occupy the unit themselves or allow a member of their family to move in. It can also be used for repairs, renovations, or unit conversions — “renoviction,” as the manoeuvre is known.
The law requires that these eviction notices be undertaken in good faith. As the Landlord and Tenant Board states, at a renoviction hearing, “the landlord must prove, on a balance of probabilities, that he or she in good faith requires the rental unit for the purpose of residential occupation by the person specified in the notice of termination.”
If the landlord is breaking or abusing the law, the LTB may punish them in a variety of ways, including through financial penalties and fines, rent abatement, or letting the tenant move back in. But during a housing and affordability crisis in which people are stretched to and beyond the limits of what they can endure, it may be time to consider a more aggressive penalty or two to deal with this growing problem.
And a growing problem it is. As Angela Hennessy reports for the CBC, since 2020, own-use evictions are up 85 per cent, from 3,445 to 6,376 — while disputes of the evictions are up fourfold. It’s more than a little reasonable to conclude that the jump in these evictions likely also includes a rise in bad-faith efforts to kick tenants out so that the landlord can raise the rent as rates soar. In Canada, the average rent in June was $2,185 for a one-bedroom unit. In Toronto, it was $2,444. Windsor is home to some of the “cheaper” stock on the market, at $1,530.
The NDP government in British Columbia has been working to address bad-faith evictions for years and is now considering new legislation to do more. The new measures would include further restricting “landlord’s use” evictions and ban them altogether for purpose with five units or more. They’re tracking renovictions online, requiring landlords to use the web portal so they can track uses and abuses more closely.
Ontario ought to follow suit in getting tough on renoviction abusers, but given the “tough on crime” posture Doug Ford and his government have adopted, perhaps the province ought to go even further. Ford routinely attacks the federal government for being too soft on crime, just this week calling its policy weak. So what if Ontario got tough on landlords who abuse personal-use evictions?
What is renoviction? | What Is Explainers
Call it a modest proposal, but I say landlords found to have abused the own-use measure ought to be banned from owning property to rent — since clearly they can’t be trusted and, of course, there’s always a risk of recidivism. And since a fraudulent renoviction during a housing crisis constitutes something worse than a low blow, the landlord ought to have to forfeit their property to the province — say at fair market value, since we can be merciful. Forfeited properties could be used by the province as affordable housing.
The province would have to routinely and randomly inspect units that have been the site of a renoviction. Not forever, of course. But for a few years at least. You can’t be too careful. Sure, that could be expensive, but not more expensive than the $134 million Ontario is shelling out to buy five new police helicopters. The helicopters, as it happens, are proof that the government is all-in on surveillance. So what’s another few eyes out there, looking for offenders.
As things stand, there were a mere 23 fines for bad-faith renovictions in 2023, though that’s up from 11 in 2022. But if tenants were better protected, resourced, and able to file challenges, and if the review process moved faster, those numbers would likely be higher.
Tenants are, no doubt, being forced out of their homes in bad faith at a greater rate than the data reflects. They deserve better. Ford has a chance to deliver better while looking like a tough guy out to catch crooks by taking on dodgy landlords. And everybody wins. Well, except the dodgy landlords.
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