London considering bylaw changes to crack down on renovictions

City of London staff will come up with recommendations for council by the end of September that could give the municipal government more options to limit or prevent renovictions, in a move that's received support from provincial officials.

The community and protective services committee unanimously directed staff on Monday to report back to them with information on what a bylaw that requires landlords to share a copy of the N12 and N13 eviction notices with the city could look like. N12 notices are issued for personal or family use, and N13 notices are for renovations.

Staff will also report back on the feasibility and impact of extending the authority of the Residential Rental Unit Licensing (RRUL) bylaw — which provides standards and regulations for rental units in London — beyond its current four-unit limit, and to include that possible extension for multi-unit residential dwellings of up to four-storeys. 

Section 3.1 of the current bylaw exempts units in apartment buildings that have more than four units from its enforcement. If approved by council, RRUL would be amended to increase the number of units within its coverage.  

"We're suggesting that we look at the number of storeys in the apartment buildings," said Coun. Sam Trosow. "We have so many of those walk-ups [apartments] that typically have eight to twelve, maybe more units, that this would greatly extend the coverage of the bylaw."

Municipalities are limited in their power when it comes to landlord-tenant issues and disputes, as that falls under provincial jurisdiction through the Ontario Residential Tenancies Act and the Ontario Landlord and Tenant Board. 

"There are some tools in the municipal toolbox that we can implement that will strengthen some of the protections, particularly where the focus is around those acting in bad faith," said deputy mayor Shawn Lewis.

"There are good and bad landlords and good and bad tenants, so we have to strike the right balance and this does that."

Province watching closely, says deputy mayor

The city's attempt to develop a comprehensive anti-displacement strategy for tenants being renovicted has received support from Ontario's associate housing minister Rob Flack, who is also the MPP for Elgin-Middlesex-London, Lewis said.

"This was actually well received. They're interested in knowing if there are things that they need to do to assist us in bringing forward these tools and they're open to ideas from us for other things that the province can do to improve this too," he said.

"The nearest provincial representative on the government's side has also expressed an interest in seeing how this is rolled out in London and what the effects are as there may be some benefits to learning for the provincial government from this too."

Flack could not be reached for a comment on Monday. 

Municipalities across Ontario and in other provinces are also considering anti-renoviction bylaws. In 2019, New Westminster, B.C. enacted an anti-renoviction bylaw, which was upheld by province's Court of Appeal in 2021. In Ontario, Hamilton is working toward a "first-of-its-kind" bylaw to stop renovictions.

Staff will develop a "full suite of options" to recommend the most cost-effective process to deal with bad faith renovictions, said Orest Katolyk, the city's chief municipal law enforcement officer.

"This is an important community topic and if directed by council, we're going to focus on undertaking a gap analysis after talking to several municipalities, and we'll also undertake an operational cost-benefit analysis," Katolyk said.

The motion will be voted on at city council's next meeting on Jan. 23. Once recommendations are laid out, Londoners will be able to weigh in on them at a future public participation meeting.