A new Toronto by-law designed to combat renovictions is about to be unleashed

Up until July 31, if a landlord in Toronto wanted to renovate their property, they could evict their tenants by filing an N13 form and giving 120 days’ notice. Now, the city is introducing a new regulation, the Rental Renovation Licence Bylaw, effective tomorrow, aimed at getting rid of such renoviction practices.

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The policy change is founded on the argument that landlords have been filing bogus N13 forms to evade rent-control laws. Between 2017 and 2022, N13 usage increased by nearly 300 per cent, according to a report by tenant advocacy group ACORN Canada.

“For many Torontonians, being forced to move means they won’t be able to find another apartment they can afford,” Mayor Olivia Chow said in a press release last week, adding that the average monthly rent in Toronto has increased by $1,000 over the past decade.

The new by-law requires owners to prove their renovations are necessary. It also mandates that renovating landlords provide tenants with alternate housing or make rent-gap payments for the duration of the upgrades. If the tenant won’t be returning, landlords must pay compensation.

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Landlord-tenant dispute lawyer Jonathan Kleiman says that, while renovictions are a major problem, the new by-law penalizes landlords too harshly, treating every renovation like a renoviction. “It burdens honest landlords with costs, delays and red tape at a time when rising interest rates and capped rents already make it tough to keep up,” he says. “There has to be a better way.”