This Thunder Bay, Ont. group is calling on the province to repeal its latest housing bill

A Thunder Bay legal clinic has joined more than 130 organizations across Ontario calling on Premier Doug Ford to repeal a section of Bill 60.

Kinna-aweya Legal Clinic, which provides legal advice to low-income residents, said will the bill make it harder for tenants to stay housed.

Released Nov. 10 and signed by 134 groups, the letter argues Schedule 12 of the bill will “grow homelessness and encampments and undermine the right to housing” by fast-tracking evictions and removing what little compensation renters currently receive when displaced.

Organizations say the legislation shortens the notice period for non-payment of rent, reducing it from 14 days to seven, which means landlords can move to apply to the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) sooner if tenants can’t pay in time.

“Bill 60 takes a number of steps that are purportedly to deal with backlogs and the landlord and tenant board system. But all they do is take away rights and options for tenants,” said Matthew Jollineau, a lawyer with the Kinna-aweya Legal Clinic. “They make housing much more precarious. They’re going to absolutely increase homelessness.”

Jollineau said reducing the timeframe will likely flood the LTB with more eviction applications.

“It doesn’t actually speed anything up,” he said. “That issue with limiting it from 14 to seven days, where the tenant has the ability to pay the arrears or move out, that's just gonna lead to more applications, which means the Landlord Tenant Board will be more clogged up.”

The bill would also require tenants to pay 50 per cent of alleged arrears before they can raise maintenance or harassment issues at a hearing. It’s a move Jollineau said “effectively strips away” the right of many low-income tenants to defend themselves.

He added that the legislation shortens the period for tenants to request a review of an eviction order from 30 days to 15, making it harder for people who miss mail or weren’t notified of a hearing to appeal their eviction in time.

In a statement to CBC News, a spokesperson for Housing Minister Rob Flack said the bill will restore balance and confidence in Ontario’s rental market by improving accountability for those who repeatedly abuse the system and create backlogs at the Landlord Tenant Board. It will also help ensure landlords can pay their mortgages, property taxes and utility bills.

The province says Bill 60 aims to “cut red tape, get shovels in the ground faster, and support the construction of homes, roads and infrastructure.” It also includes measures the government says will reduce gridlock at the LTB by “limiting bad actors from abusing the system” and speeding up hearings.

“Our government is building a more prosperous, resilient and competitive economy,” Minister Flack said when introducing the bill in October. “We’re working with municipal leaders and homebuilders to get shovels in the ground faster so we can build more homes and keep workers on the job.”

Kayla Andrade, founder of grassroots advocacy organization, Ontario Landlords Watch, agrees. She says the Ford government’s proposed Bill 60 would restore “accountability and fairness” in Ontario’s rental housing system. 

She argues housing advocates opposing the bill “have a vested interest in keeping the system broken,” while small landlords struggle with costs and red tape. Andrade says the legislation would close loopholes that allow “chronic non-payers” to delay eviction, without eliminating tenant supports such as rent banks or payment plans.