A new bill the provincial government says aims to bring more landlords into the rental market has sparked huge debate
Ontario’s government is introducing a new bill it says will encourage more landlords to rent out properties and unlock thousands of rental units across the province. But critics argue the legislation would make it far easier for landlords to evict tenants – and could even spell an effective end to rent control.
Last week, the government unveiled its “Fighting Delays, Building Faster Act,” an omnibus bill proposing a host of changes to existing regulations. For housing and rental market watchers, the most noteworthy by far was its plan to explore “alternative options” on lease agreement expiry, potentially giving landlords much more power over how long tenants occupy their properties.
That’s significant because renters are currently allowed to stay in a property on an indefinite month-to-month basis once a one-year lease expires, with most annual rent increases – excluding those for rental units built after November 15, 2018 – capped based on the province’s consumer price index (2.1% for 2026).
Currently, landlords can only evict tenants for legally valid reasons. But proposed changes would “[allow landlords] to adjust tenancy arrangements based on market conditions, personal needs, or business strategies,” the bill said.
That could give landlords the power to remove their tenant after a year-long lease has expired, potentially allowing them to rent out the property for a much higher amount to someone else (when a tenant moves out, landlords aren’t restricted by rent control when they list the property again until someone else moves in).
Attorney general Doug Downey said the measure aimed to address reservations some landlords have about entering the rental market. “We’ve heard from stakeholders that these evergreen leases that just go on with no end in sight may not be appropriate,” he told reporters.
“What we do know is there are a lot of landlords that are not putting their units on the market. We need to get those units.”
Downey said the move could potentially unlock “tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of new units, and those will be places that people that currently don’t have a place to be will be able to rent.”
But the announcement sparked a furious online reaction as renters blasted the government for appearing to side with landlords amid an ongoing housing and rental affordability crisis.
Landlords could ‘circumvent’ rent control under new proposals, says economist
Rents have ticked lower this year in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) as the city’s condo market downturn deepens, but that decline has failed to move the needle significantly for scores of Ontarians who’ve seen rental prices soar during the last decade.
The average cost of renting a one-bedroom apartment in the GTA spiked from $1,600 in 2013 to about $2,503 by 2022 – and some housing industry stakeholders aren’t convinced the government’s latest proposals are the answer to boosting affordability.
The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives said Downey’s argument that a large number of would-be landlords across the province are not listing their units “does not hold up.”
“Let’s start with the obvious. It can’t be ‘hundreds of thousands,’” Ricardo Tranjan, Ontario research director and senior researcher, wrote.
“In the last census, Ontario had 5.5 million occupied dwellings. If ‘hundreds of thousands’ means, say, 500,000, it would suggest that there is one empty home in Ontario for every 10 occupied homes. That’s not possible.”
Tranjan suggested it was likelier that Ontario’s four most populated areas combined had up to 17,800 vacant units not currently on the rental market.
Those units might be off the market for temporary issues, he said, including inheritance proceedings – or longer-term challenges like necessary renovations.
“Either way, it is safe to assume that not all of these units can be rented, and any policy that tries to get them in the market should assume that only a share of them will be.”
And the proposed rules could allow landlords to effectively hike rents as much as they like, he said. “If fixed-term leases are an option, landlords will be tempted to use them as a way to circumvent rent controls, which in Ontario only apply to occupied units.”
Proposals divide market watchers
The bill would also require tenants to give advance notice of issues they intend to raise in disputes with their landlord and would remove the need for landlords to offer compensation to their tenants to take their property back for their own use (if they give at least 120 days’ notice).
Ontario Real Estate Association (OREA) president Cathy Polan praised the bill, describing it as “exactly what we need” to add more inventory to the rental market in a statement.
Others aren’t so sure. “If enacted, renters in Ontario will be at great risk of evictions and skyrocketing rents, while being unable to fully participate in hearings at the Board,” the Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario (ACTO) said in a statement.
“Instead of addressing the real challenge of Ontario’s ongoing housing crisis, Bill 60 will weaken tenant protections and forsake security of tenure for unfettered profit-making.”
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