Ontario to beef up tenant protections, housing minister says

Ontario says it will make changes to protect renters against so-called renovictions as well as boost the number of adjudicators who deal with tenant and landlord disputes.

Housing Minister Steve Clark says the province will help renters whose landlords who kick them out in order to renovate then rent the unit at a much higher price.

Clark says they are proposing changes to double the maximum fines for offences to individuals and corporations who do not follow the law.

Critics have long called for rent control in the province, but the government has not said it will do so.

Attorney General Doug Downey says the province will spend $6.5 million to appoint 40 additional adjudicators to the Landlord and Tenant Board.

Downey says the hirings will help the board operate more efficiently after seeing lengthy backlogs increase due to the pandemic.

The Canadian Press