Following outcry from renters and housing experts, the Ontario government is walking back a controversial proposal that could have scrapped the province’s “security of tenure” rules, permitting landlords to evict tenants once leases expire.
Housing Minister Rob Flack announced Sunday afternoon that the government will not move forward with the changes, which were outlined in a bill introduced Thursday.
“Residents expect stability and predictability in Ontario’s rental market, and now is not the time to consider changes to this system,” Flack said in a statement posted to X. “As such, we have decided not to proceed with consultations on potential changes to month-to-month leases.”
The bill, the “Fighting Delays, Building Faster Act,” could have allowed landlords to “adjust tenancy arrangements based on market conditions, personal needs or business strategies,” according to a technical briefing. The government argued that more flexibility around leases would bring additional rental units to the market.
The proposal, however, would have effectively upended the province’s long-standing “security of tenure” protections, which allow renters to remain in a rental unit after a lease period ends, so long as they adhere to the Residential Tenancies Act and original lease agreement.
It would have affected about 1.7 million renter households in Ontario, making up 30 per cent of provincial households, along with 558,000 renter households in Toronto, which represents about half the city.
Almost immediately after the bill was introduced, tenant rights advocates slammed the proposal, saying tenants would have no protections from eviction once their lease period ends. Renters, they argued, would be forced to renew their lease at the end of the period, at which point landlords could raise the rent by whatever amount they want.
“The premier wants to make it easier for people to be evicted from their homes,” NDP’s shadow housing minister, Catherine McKenney, said in a statement Friday, in response to the proposal. “Thousands of workers and families across the province are already on the brink, and Bill 60 will be devastating. This will lead to mass evictions.”
Toronto’s Mayor Olivia Chow said in a post on X that she was relieved the Ford government is no longer considering the changes, “which would have been catastrophic for the 50 per cent of Torontonians who rent their homes, and a victory for large corporate landlords.”
The proposed legislation comes after the Doug Ford government previously did away with rent control for all units occupied after Nov. 15, 2018, allowing landlords to raise prices beyond the annual rate limits.
In the statement issued Sunday, Flack said the government will still move forward with “common-sense reforms,” including by “restoring balance” to the Landlord and Tenant Board and cracking down on “abuse of the system.”
With files from Manuela Vega
