Group home owner says she can't follow city rules without help
CBC
An operator of unlicensed group homes that cater to vulnerable residents in Toronto says she can't comply with new city rules regulating rooming houses without additional funding.
The city defines a rooming house as a building where four or more rooms are rented out to separate people. That's what Simone Sewell does at three homes in the Malvern and Morningside neighbourhoods of Scarborough, where she provides care for around 30 people with mental and physical health challenges.
The homes, which have operated without provincial or municipal approval for years, now have a pathway to becoming legal under a new regime that came into effect in Toronto on March 31.
Sewell says she wants to get a licence, but she said the requirements are too burdensome for her to meet on a shoestring budget.
"We all want to comply but we're just going to need the funding, you know, to be able to," Sewell said.
"The mandate is just so high. Like, we're automatically in violation because we cannot afford extra staffing."
The tension highlights one of the challenges the city will face over the next year as it seeks to bring an unknown number of homes that have been operating in the shadows — some like Sewell's, which offer services that may fall under the province's jurisdiction — into compliance.
The city said while it's in charge of making sure rooming houses are operating above board, any health-care services provided at group homes are regulated by the province. CBC Toronto has reached out to the Ministry of Health and Health Minister Sylvia Jones's office for comment.
"There's a different set of rules for them and it's governed under provincial legislation," said Carleton Grant, executive director of municipal licensing and standards at the city.
"Our objective is to ensure that the tenants living in these homes are living there safely."
For years, city staff reports have said unlicensed rooming houses can lead to unsafe living conditions for tenants and community safety concerns.
That's why in December 2022, city council adopted a plan to make the multi-unit dwellings legal in every part of the city, where previously they'd only been permitted in the old city of Toronto, East York and York.
Operators can now apply for two types of licenses: one for homes where residents live independently, and another for those where meals and other services are provided for the personal care and health of the residents.
All operators are required to have building permits and zoning approval, a property maintenance plan and a process for tenants to request service. Personal care rooming house operators will have to meet additional requirements, including developing a tenant needs assessment, personal care plan and nutritional meal plans for each resident.
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