Rental Renovation Licence By-law

On November 14, 2024 Toronto City Council adopted a Rental Renovation Licence By-law to curb bad faith evictions and protect tenants from the practice of renovictions. The Bylaw will come into effect on July 31, 2025.

Renovictions, where tenants are evicted under the false pretense of necessary renovations so landlords can increase rents significantly or refuse tenants return to their homes, have become increasingly common in the city’s tight rental housing market. Renovictions disproportionately impact low-income and marginalized communities, exacerbating homelessness and leading to the loss of affordable rental housing options.

 

Tenants

 

When the By-law comes into effect on July 31, 2025 tenants who have been issued an N-13 notice should contact the City to verify that their landlord is in compliance with the Residential Renovation Licence By-law.

 

Until the By-law comes into effect, tenants facing bad faith eviction under the guise of a landlord requiring vacant possession to repair or renovate a unit are encouraged to contact the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB).

 

The City is also providing additional funding to Toronto Tenant Support Program service providers to increase capacity to support tenants facing renovictions. Information on the Toronto Tenant Support Program is available here: [link to HS tenant page]

 

Landlords

 

Through the new bylaw, landlords issuing an N13 notice to end tenancy will require a Rental Renovation Licence. To apply for a licence, landlords will need to:

  • Provide approved building permits (and any other required approvals)
  • Provide a copy of the N13 notice to end tenancy
  • Submit a $700 application fee (waived for Multi-Tenant Housing Operators)
  • Notify tenants of a licence application after submission and advise on how to obtain information on eviction prevention and the Rental Renovations Licence Bylaw
  • Post a Tenant Information Notice in the building advising tenants of the licence application
  • Provide a report prepared by a qualified person noting that the renovation requires vacant possession
  • Complete a Tenant Accommodation or Compensation Plan to provide tenant(s) who choose to return to their units with temporary, comparable housing at similar rents, or provide monthly rent-gap payments (based on post-2015 average market rents) to cover the rent difference, with tenants finding their own temporary housing, and provide moving allowances of $1,500 for a studio/one-bedroom unit, $2,500 for a two-or-more-bedroom unit
  • Provide tenants with prescribed severance compensation where the tenant chooses not to return to the unit after the renovation or repair work is complete.

More information on the Rental Renovation Licence Bylaw, including details on how landlords can prepare to transition to the new requirements, are under development and will be posted here. A multilingual public education campaign for Toronto tenants, landlords, and other interested parties is also under development.