Renting in Ontario

August 22, 2021

Renting in Ontario

Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 (RTA)


The RTA contains the laws that govern residential tenancies in Ontario. The relationship between landlords and tenants in Ontario is regulated by the RTA. It applies to all residential rental units in Ontario except for those that are exempted under s.5 of the Act. There are special regulations for care homes, mobile home parks, government housing and land lease communities. The RTA describes the rights, responsibilities and obligations of landlords and tenants in Ontario. It includes the tenancy agreement, eviction, right to remain in occupation, assignments and sublet of tenancies, entry, changing locks, maintenance, repair, cleanliness obligation, rent increases, notice requirements, and harassments by landlords, etc.


The Ontario Human Rights Code


The Ontario Human Rights Code gives equal rights to everyone when buying, selling, renting, or being evicted from a house, apartment, condominium, or commercial property, including renting, or being evicted from a hotel room. It ensures suitable access to doors, laundry rooms, swimming pools and other common areas. The Code applies to rental agreements, contracts, leases, the amount of rent, security deposits, lease termination, eviction, occupants’ rules and regulations and requirement of guarantors. It applies to municipalities and their bylaws, processes, and decisions too. The Ontario Human Rights Code enforces your right to housing without discrimination and harassment. 


Rental Fairness Act, 2017(RFA)


The Rental Fairness Act came into effect in 2017, as part of Ontario’s Fair Housing Plan which aims to promote affordable housing in Toronto. The RFA has made significant changes to the Residential Tenancies Act. One major change is the introduction of a new mandatory standard lease template, for all new leases, with the most updated version to be used for new residential tenancy agreements signed on or after March1, 2021. Another significant change that was brought forth by the RFA is that landlords can no longer impose above-guideline rent increases due to their high utility costs. The most important victory for tenants that was introduced by the RTA is that tenants, former tenants, or prospective tenants can no longer be locked into a fixed term lease by landlords.


Protecting Tenants and Strengthening Community Housing Act, 2020


The Protecting Tenants and Strengthening Community Housing Act, 2020 made amendments to the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, the Housing Services Act, 2011, the Building Code Act, 1992, and entirely repealed the Ontario Mortgage and Housing Corporations Act. The changes made by this act give more protection to Ontario tenants, while helping both landlords and tenants resolve disputes. Among many other things, it encourages repayment agreements for Covid-19 for rent arrears from March 17, 2020, or later. While the new changes prevent unlawful evictions, tenants are also compensated for “no fault” evictions.


Rent Freeze 


The Ontario government passed legislation to freeze rent at 2020 levels for tenants living in rented houses, apartments, condos, basement apartments, retirement homes, care homes, mobile home parks, land lease communities, community housing units and other housing units created by federally and /or provincially funded programs.





Note: This article is for general information purposes only. The contents of this article are not legal advice or opinion and should not be relied upon as such. YFLaw Professional Corporation owns the copyright to this article and its contents. The article and its contents are not to be copied or reproduced in any form, in whole or in part, without the express permission of YFLaw Professional Corporation.




 


By Yasanthi Fernando September 25, 2021
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I am opening our Insights page today, writing about something that we are all aware of but do not practice enough. It is about introspection or looking within. It is not looking at yourself in the mirror. It is examining, reflecting and accepting who you are. We are always looking at others around us in life, criticizing, mocking, imitating or envying. Do we ever stop and look at our own selves? Why should we look within? When we look within, we focus on our own selves, which in turn brings forth many favourable outcomes. We find out about our strengths and weaknesses. We identify our faults. We learn of our insecurities and fears. We analyze our thoughts and actions. We take care of our words and actions and that, in turn, takes care of our relationships within our family, surroundings, workplace, school and society. How do we look within? People find many ways to reflect upon themselves. The world today is filled with knowledge about how to find inner peace and where to find it. From yoga studios to meditation sessions, to mental health podcasts to nature escapes, we are all yearning for that inner peace and happiness. There are many materials to be found on this topic that I do not wish to dwell on it, but rather emphasize on the importance of finding the time to look within ourselves. In my view, a few simple minutes from our busy lifestyles is what is needed to do this. Practicing self-care You can practice self-care, without spending a lot of money. All you must do is find a quiet corner for yourself and reflect upon yourself, your family, relationships, career, school, work, health and goals in life. It helps you come to terms with yourself. It helps you improve your faults and weaknesses. It builds healthy relationships. It helps you identify your true friends and move away from those that bring you down. It instills confidence and helps you set boundaries in life to get what you deserve. Path to happiness Solving our own problems by ourselves by looking within paves the way or path to happiness. It gets rid of anxieties, stress, anger, frustrations and negative thoughts. It breeds contentment and calmness, a solution for many problems in the world. Yasanthi Fernando Note: This article is for general information purposes only. The contents of this article are not legal advice or opinion and should not be relied upon as such. YFLaw Professional Corporation owns the copyright to this article and its contents. The article and its contents are not to be copied or reproduced in any form, in whole or in part, without the express permission of YFLaw Professional Corporation.
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