A woman who’s spent all year searching for a new place to live in Thunder Bay, Ont., says she’s worried about what the province’s latest housing legislation will mean for others in a similar situation.
Léonie BlackCat says she’s in the process of resolving a dispute at the province’s Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB).
While awaiting the tribunal’s decision over the fate of her tenancy, she’s been actively looking for a new place to rent in the northwestern Ontario city, but says she’s faced ongoing challenges.
“It’s very hard to find rentals that are affordable, non-discriminatory and just genuinely safe,” she said.
“I’m a person with generational curses and a lot of generational trauma, and I have to be careful about where I move to in this neighbourhood. I’m a young, single woman as well, and I have to be mindful as a queer woman, as a person with pets as well, where I’m moving to. And I have to think of long-term affordability.”
About one-third of Canadians are living in rental housing, according to Statistics Canada. In Ontario, landlords and tenants settle disputes at the LTB, but a years-long backlog of cases has taken a toll on the rental market.
Last week, the Ontario government passed Bill 60, known as the “Fighting Delays, Building Faster Act,” which it says introduces measures to “reduce gridlock, relieve backlog at the Landlord and Tenant Board and promote increased supply of rental housing.”
However, many critics say the bill makes it harder for tenants to challenge evictions, and makes it easier for landlords to raise rents.
For example, the new legislation shortens the tenant eviction notice period from 14 days to one week, and speeds up evictions for those behind on their rent payments. For those who want to request a review of an eviction decision made in error, they now have 15 days instead of 30.
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People in Thunder Bay are continuing to push back against new provincial housing legislation. We’ll hear more about Bill 60 and why some housing advocates say it makes it easier for landlords to evict tenants.
BlackCat, who says she’s at risk of eviction, was one of more than a dozen people who participated in a rally against Bill 60 on Sunday, held outside Thunder Bay—Atikokan MPP Kevin Holland’s office in the city.
In her view, the legislation favours bad-faith landlords over good-faith tenants.
“A good-faith landlord would be able to communicate with a tenant, and if you treat someone right, I truly believe that they want to live up to that expectation,” she said.
It’s very hard to find rentals that are affordable, non-discriminatory and just genuinely safe.– Léonie BlackCat, Thunder Bay renter
“If the landlord’s a good landlord, they treat their tenant right and a tenant wants to live up to that and prove to the landlord, ‘I am just as dependable as you see me and as you treat me.’”
In a statement to CBC News, Holland’s office said Bill 60 “aims to strengthen the Landlord and Tenant Board so that the process works as it should, while maintaining the strong protections Ontario tenants already have.”
“These reforms are intended to address bad actors who have slowed down cases for everyone else. Our goal is to protect families, support good-faith tenants, and give rental providers confidence to bring new housing online,” the statement said.
Homelessness on the rise
More than 650 people are known to be experiencing homelessness in Thunder Bay, according to the latest point-in-time count conducted in October.
Holly Gauvin is the executive director of Elevate NWO, a harm reduction agency that provides housing support in the city for some of the community’s most vulnerable.
This year, she says her outreach workers served more than 280 people in the city’s homeless encampments, and fears that “with this new bill, we’re going to see an even greater increase.”
“Those of us standing outside here right now are really feeling the cold weather, but we’re going to be able to get in our vehicles and go home [really] soon,” Gauvin said at the rally. “People who have to spend the night out in the cold aren’t going to be able to do that.”
While she acknowledges more money is being spent on the shelter system and transitional housing, Gauvin calls those temporary measures, and wants to see more investments in long-term affordable housing as well as subsidized units.
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Bill 60 initially included measures which could have ended rent controls and indefinite leases, but those changes were pulled back after an outpouring of public pushback.
However, housing advocates say the current bill still paves the way for more instability and fails to address other challenges. As the cost of living continues to climb, Gauvin said she isn’t sure how low-income earners, families and seniors will cope.
“Are there some tenants that are taking advantage of some of the laws? For sure. But then fix that,” said Gauvin. “These blanket laws will affect many and will open it up for some really unscrupulous landlords to take really, really bad action against really vulnerable people.”
While Bill 60 received Royal Assent on Thursday, not everyone is accepting that as its final stage.
Matthew Jollineau is a staff lawyer at the Kinna-aweya Legal Clinic in Thunder Bay and the organizer of Sunday’s rally. He said seeing people continue to push back against the legislation gives him hope.
“They know what’s at stake for their neighbours and their community members and people who are forced to live outside because of the horrendous rental conditions we have in this province — and I know that there is that strength in that unity,” Jollineau said.
“Just because bills can be passed doesn’t mean they can’t be overturned. We have to keep fighting.”