Responsible Renting Toronto

Responsible renting

Responsible Renting Toronto

Protect Good Tenants. Support Responsible Landlords. Hold Bad Actors Accountable.

Nearly half of Torontonians rent their homes. Every renter deserves a home that is safe, healthy and properly maintained. At the same time, responsible landlords, including small landlords who provide an important part of Toronto’s rental housing, deserve a system that is fair, predictable and accountable.

My approach will not begin by labelling either landlords or tenants as the problem.

It will begin with evidence.

1. Crack Down on Negligent and Repeat-Offender Landlords

Toronto will aggressively enforce health, safety and property standards against landlords who repeatedly refuse to maintain their buildings.

We will strengthen enforcement against serious and documented problems including unsafe conditions, unresolved pest infestations, mould, lack of heat or water, elevators and common areas, structural or safety issues, ignored repairs and repeated property-standard violations.

Pest control is a housing standard. Cockroaches, bedbugs, mice, rats and similar infestations require prompt, professional treatment and building-wide follow-through where infestations spread. Escalate fines for landlords who leave units or buildings untreated after complaints or orders.

Clear accountability for corporate landlords: escalating municipal penalties that bite, not a cost of doing business. Escalate when landlords ignore orders or the same building piles up open work orders.

Where violations continue after reasonable opportunities to comply, the City should escalate enforcement and use the powers already available to it.

2. Protect Responsible Landlords Too

Toronto’s rental system depends on responsible housing providers, including individuals and families who rent out a basement apartment, condominium or second property.

They should not be treated as though they are responsible for the behaviour of negligent landlords.

The City will provide clearer information and navigation assistance to landlords dealing with serious tenancy problems such as substantial property damage, persistent non-payment of rent, safety concerns or serious interference with other residents. City processes should not bury responsible small landlords who follow the law in red tape when they have a legitimate case.

Where an issue falls under provincial jurisdiction, the City will help residents understand how to access the Landlord and Tenant Board rather than pretending Toronto has powers it does not possess.

3. Create a Toronto Rental Housing Accountability Dashboard

Before spending millions of dollars on another enforcement initiative, Torontonians should be able to see the evidence.

I will require transparent reporting of:

• rental-property complaints received by the City
• inspections conducted
• confirmed violations
• repeat violations
• orders issued and compliance rates
• average resolution times
• buildings with serious outstanding violations
• enforcement costs and outcomes

We should distinguish between a complaint, an alleged violation and a confirmed violation.

Policy should be based on verified evidence, not political labels.

4. Expand Transparency for Rental Buildings

Toronto already evaluates buildings through RentSafeTO. I will make this information easier for prospective tenants to understand before signing a lease.

Tenants should be able to check significant outstanding property-standard violations and relevant building information.

Transparency creates an incentive for landlords to maintain their properties while helping renters make informed decisions.

5. Establish a Rental Housing Resolution Service

Many landlord-tenant problems should not require months of conflict.

I will establish a City navigation and early-resolution service to help tenants and landlords understand:

• their rights and responsibilities
• which level of government has jurisdiction
• available mediation and community services
• City inspection and enforcement processes
• when an issue must go to the Landlord and Tenant Board

The objective will be to resolve appropriate disputes earlier while directing serious cases quickly to the proper authority.

Prevention before eviction: connect tenants in temporary financial hardship to available supports before housing problems become homelessness.

6. Protect Tenants from Retaliation and Illegal Practices

Tenants must be able to report unsafe housing conditions without fear.

No tolerance for illegal lockouts, harassment or retaliation against tenants who exercise legal rights. Toronto will strengthen education and enforcement within municipal authority concerning property standards and will connect tenants facing possible illegal eviction, harassment or other Residential Tenancies Act issues with appropriate provincial and legal resources.

7. Protect Toronto’s Rental Housing Supply

We cannot solve the housing crisis by driving responsible rental providers out of the market.

Toronto needs purpose-built rental housing, affordable housing, co-ops, non-profit housing and responsible private rental housing.

My administration will examine municipal fees, approval delays and unnecessary regulatory barriers that make creating legitimate rental housing more difficult, while maintaining strong health and safety standards.

8. Advocate for a Faster and Fairer Landlord and Tenant Board

Many of the most important landlord-tenant disputes fall under Ontario’s jurisdiction, not Toronto’s.

As Mayor, I will advocate for an accessible and timely Landlord and Tenant Board where both tenants and landlords receive due process and cases involving housing security, serious maintenance problems, rent arrears or substantial property damage can be resolved without unreasonable delay.

When there is clear evidence of serious or repeated non-payment, deliberate damage, violence or conduct that threatens other residents’ safety, lawful decisions should not face endless delay.

I will also advocate for stronger protection against bad-faith evictions and renovictions: accountability where legal processes are deliberately abused to flip units for much higher rent, and for provincial rental legislation that delivers both housing security and accountability.

Honest line: Faster process cannot mean easier abuse of tenants’ rights. A mayor uses Toronto’s enforcement powers where the City has jurisdiction (property standards, bylaws, Municipal Licensing and Standards, prevention) and advocates to Queen’s Park for provincial rental law and Landlord and Tenant Board reform. A mayor does not rewrite the Residential Tenancies Act or run the LTB.

One Standard: Responsibility

A tenant paying rent deserves a safe and properly maintained home.

A responsible landlord deserves protection of their property and a fair process when tenancy obligations are seriously breached.

Neither landlords nor tenants should be stereotyped because of the misconduct of a minority.

My housing policy will therefore be based on a simple principle:

Protect responsible tenants. Support responsible landlords. Hold proven bad actors accountable, and publish the evidence.

That is how we build a rental system based on fairness, housing security and mutual responsibility.

Related: A Toronto Rental Registry for rent transparency and unit-level accountability.

Questions? Email bethechangeno1@gmail.com, call (647) 785-3729