The City of Toronto is developing a new bylaw aimed at preventing “renovictions” – when a landlord illegitimately evicts a tenant by alleging that vacant possession of a rental unit is needed to undertake renovations or repairs. Renovictions can include refusing to allow a tenant to return post-renovation, illegally raising the rent on a returning tenant or not undertaking major renovations after evicting tenants.
Renovictions have become a serious issue in Toronto and affect tenants across the city, including low-income and marginalized communities. With a shortage of affordable housing and low vacancy rates, it’s more important than ever to preserve existing affordable rental homes. This bylaw will establish new rules to prevent bad faith evictions and help maintain affordable homes for Toronto’s residents.
In June 2024, City Council directed city staff to create a new renovictions bylaw to tackle this growing issue. The bylaw is being modeled after successful initiatives in other cities and aims to strengthen protections for tenants across Toronto.
City staff will present City Council with a proposed bylaw that includes, but is not limited to:
The City will engage with the public and interested parties and will report back with a proposed bylaw by October 30.
We want to hear from tenants, landlords, the organizations that support them and the public before finalizing the renoviction bylaw. This will help us protect tenants and make sure landlords understand how to follow the new rules.
Share your insights and experiences by completing our online survey by September 30. Your responses will be anonymous and will inform the development of the bylaw.
For more information about the proposed bylaw, please read the Renoviction Bylaw Implementation presentation.
Virtual and Public Drop-in Sessions are now complete. Thank you to everyone who was able to attend a session and provide feedback on the proposed bylaw.
Updates on the bylaw’s development process will be posted on this webpage.