Planning committee votes to push through anti-renovictions bylaw review

A for sale sign outside a home in Ottawa indicates that it has been rented on March 1, 2021. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang)

Ottawa’s planning and housing committee has voted to direct staff to develop an anti-renoviction bylaw, despite city staff previously recommending against the idea.

Councillors voted to carry a motion tabled by Coun. Ariel Troster to direct city staff to conduct a bylaw review and report back by the spring of 2026.

Staff are being given a three-month period to wait for a response from the Ontario government to inform councillors of the status of existing provincial protections for renters.

The Ontario government’s new Helping Homebuyers, Protecting Tenants Act 2023 makes amendments to the Residential Tenancies Act to address bad faith evictions. The bill has received Royal Assent, but no date has been given on when it might be implemented.

“This is not voting on a renoviction bylaw. This is voting to allow a full bylaw review process,” Troster said.

Staff will be tasked with looking into the costs and impact of the bylaw and will inform councillors of any changes to renoviction rules in other jurisdictions.

Councillors voted near unanimously to move forward with the motion, with Coun. Wilson Lo voting against.

Council voted to approve a study into the anti-evictions bylaw last April.

In a report prepared for the committee meeting last week, staff recommended delaying a review of the issue, citing the high cost of the study and a desire to wait for study other municipal and provincial laws. Staff suggested Ottawa would need to hire 12-15 new employees and it would cost $1.8 million to $2.2 million to implement the bylaw.

Hamilton, Toronto and London have adopted new bylaws to address evictions due to renovations, but those bylaws have not been implemented yet.

Several tenant advocates spoke at the committee meeting, saying a bylaw cracking down on bad faith evictions will help keep rents low and reduce homelessness.

“The practice of renoviction is a blatant attack on affordable housing,” said Karen Andrews, a lawyer for the Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario.

“If the province is not going to take this seriously – you can.”

The City of Ottawa has seen an increase in eviction notices handed out to tenants between 2010 and 2023, including a 29 per cent increase in N12 applications and a 107 per cent increase in N13 applications. There were 505 N12 notices or applications in Ottawa in 2023, and 104 N13 notices.

“We know that renovictions can lead to homelessness – at minimum a renovation means that tenants are forced to find other housing almost guaranteed to be unaffordable in our current housing market,” said another delegate.

Staff previously said if council decides to proceed with a full bylaw review, a “significant budget” will be needed and it will take 12 months to research, consult and draft regulations.

The bylaw review would still need to receive approval from city council.