Lawmakers in Ontario, the most populous province in Canada, passed a controversial housing bill on Monday against the background of chants from protesters who said the new rules would weaken the rights of renters.
The law, the Fighting Delays, Building Faster Act, is meant to streamline the approval process for new housing, allowing developers to build more quickly. It also cuts back the amount of time that a landlord has to wait before issuing a notice of eviction, down to seven days from 14.
Activists opposing the changes shouted and chanted “People over profits,” and many were eventually escorted out of the legislature building in Toronto by security guards.
Doug Ford, the province’s Conservative premier, appearing exasperated after one protester taunted a guard attempting to remove the man, told him, “Go find a job, buddy.”
The comment is likely to strike a nerve in Toronto. Housing is a heated topic in the city, as it is just about everywhere in Canada, as soaring home costs in the country’s major cities have led to an exodus of families and young people and have driven up prices in rural areas, where former city dwellers are now looking.
While some cities have enacted their own bylaws to protect renters, housing activists fear Ontario’s law will have the opposite effect and will accelerate evictions of people who have fallen even a little behind on their rent.
In Toronto, Canada’s largest city, about half of the residents are renters, according to census agency data, far higher than the national level, 33 percent.
“It’s an attack on tenants’ rights,” said Amanda Dick, a housing activist at the Ontario chapter of ACORN, or the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, who was at the protest. “Allowing somebody only seven days to rectify some kind of arrears on rent is unacceptable, and it’s going to lead to a lot of evictions that are completely unnecessary.”
The new law also shortens the time for tenants to appeal a decision to the Landlord and Tenant Board, a tribunal that adjudicates rental disputes, down to 15 days from 30 days. The tribunal has long been criticized by both landlords and tenants for excessive delays and leaves some tenants feeling disadvantaged because they do not have guaranteed access to a licensed representative like a lawyer to support them in navigating the process.
Ms. Dick also disapproved of Mr. Ford’s comments telling the protester to “find a job,” which appeared to be directed at a colleague of hers from ACORN.
“It’s entirely inappropriate for the premier to respond to voters who are exercising their right to free speech in that sort of manner,” Ms. Dick said.
While activists are concerned that the law will hurt good tenants, the province said it is meant to target “bad actors.”
“This legislation deals with people that are the bad actors, bad landlords, bad tenants,” Rob Flack, the provincial housing minister, told reporters at the legislature. “The vast majority of Ontario renters live by the rules. They pay the rent. They pay it on time,” he said, adding that the law would “restore balance” to the administrative process of adjudicating rental disputes.
But Ms. Dick countered that activists were worried that tenants would lose their homes even over brief and temporary shortfalls. “You could be $1 behind on your rent, $1 short, and after seven days, your landlord could initiate eviction proceedings,” she said.
The new law includes other measures such as limiting the types of issues that tenants can raise at an eviction hearing, including health and safety issues or being in the middle of an arrears hearing, and restricting a tenant’s ability to advocate for a delay in an eviction based on their personal circumstances.
The Toronto Regional Real Estate Board, an organization representing real estate agents, said in a statement that it welcomed changes that would “speed up” hearings for rental property owners and tenants.
Vjosa Isai is a reporter and researcher for The Times based in Toronto, where she covers news from across Canada.
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