Once again, thank you to the great member for the question. Municipalities across Ontario are getting on board, helping to deliver on their housing pledges and to increase supply. But once again, the opposition continues to vote against the best interests of the people across this province. They acknowledged we were in a housing supply crisis, although they can’t seem to agree if it’s real or not, but then voted against our latest housing supply action plan to get more housing supply built. They take to the streets with signs saying they support tenants’ rights, but then they voted no to the single largest renter protection legislation we’ve introduced so far.

It’s our government that’s reducing red tape, we’re freezing costs, we’re giving municipalities the tools needed to build the communities of tomorrow, because we know the NDP—that, once again, no development party—are against getting anything done.

We’re going to continue to work closely with municipalities to address their unique challenges, but we’re going to maintain our laser focus on supporting families and job creators across this province. And I’ll have more to say in supplementary.

Our “helping tenants” package is going to double penalties for unlawfully hiking rents. We’re strengthening those protections against renovictions and we’re giving tenants more rights, including the ability to have air conditioners in their units.

However, if it was up to the NDP, we would have no housing supply, no rental property. It’s this government that’s getting housing built, with the highest yet purpose-built rentals this year. We’re going to continue to do that for the people of Ontario so that we can all benefit.

I really do want to thank the member from Brantford–Brant for this great question. Speaker, we are undertaking thoughtful, impactful actions to address housing affordability and supply for all Ontarians. Our latest action plan allows our government to boost construction while supporting current and future homeowners and renters. It is this government that is protecting tenants from unfair practices. We’re reducing red tape, and we’re assisting first-time buyers, something the NDP once again voted against.

We’ve laid the foundation to increase the supply of market housing so that affordability is within reach for every single community across this province. And, Speaker, I’ve been to Ottawa, Perth county, Wellington and London—right across many communities—and we’ve heard the same about the need and the appreciation for the bold measures our government is taking to combat the housing supply right across this province.

I want to thank the member from University–Rosedale for her question. However, the NDP’s fact-free rhetoric does absolutely nothing to help first-time homebuyers actually achieve their dreams. While they complain from the sidelines, it is this government that is taking concrete action. Our government has a bold plan for attacking the housing supply crisis and bringing affordable housing within reach for all Ontarians.

Speaker, our plan is working. We’ve seen record purpose-built rentals in the past two years, and record housing starts. We doubled the adjudicators on the Landlord and Tenant Board.

We’re not going to take any lessons from the NDP, the no-development party, on building houses in this province.

We’re going to continue to work hard for all of the people of Ontario.

The NDP’s sudden concern for housing affordability rings very hollow to us. For years, they did absolutely nothing but talk about these issues from the sidelines. They voted, once again, against the housing supply action plan, which is delivering the highest number of rental units in Ontario’s history. And, surprisingly, they voted against protecting tenants from renovictions and wrongful evictions.

While the NDP proposes more taxes and study after study, our government is going to cut red tape, we’ll build more housing supply, and we’re introducing real solutions that will make a meaningful difference to Ontarians struggling with affordability. We’re not going to be lectured by the party with no credible plan, with a track record of inaction. We’re going to keep working for the people of Ontario. It’s time they stepped up and represented their constituents, as well.

I want to thank the minister for his earlier remarks.

Speaker, it really is my privilege to speak today on further details of the proposed Helping Homebuyers, Protecting Tenants Act. I want to thank the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing for providing a very concise overview of this bill. You will be hearing later from the Minister of Public and Business Service Delivery for a detailed exploration of the advantages of this proposed legislation for new home buyers.

But let me remind the members of this House about the work our government has done to help those Ontarians who rent their homes and what we’re proposing to continue to make life better for tenants across this province.

Our government recognizes that rentals make up a big part of Ontario’s overall housing market. That’s why our previous housing supply action plans have included initiatives to enable the construction of new rental housing. Since 2019, we’ve made changes to boost the supply of rental housing to help increase affordability and choice for Ontarians. And we’re seeing progress. New rental construction is at a record high, with almost 7,200 starts so far this year. That’s more than double the number of rental starts from the same period last year.

But we’re doing more than just working to increase rental housing supply. Protecting tenants remains a top priority for our government. Since our government was elected in 2018, we’ve introduced and implemented numerous measures to help tenants. We’ve changed the rules to enable the construction of more rental units. We’ve implemented measures to protect against bad-faith evictions while clamping down on bad landlords. We’ve made ongoing investments in the Landlord and Tenant Board to modernize their processes. When renters were facing challenges during the height of the pandemic, we froze 2021 rents and we temporarily suspended the enforcement of evictions so tenants could remain safe in their homes.

The Helping Homebuyers, Protecting Tenants Act and the plan now represent our government’s latest efforts to make life better for tenants. According to Statistics Canada data, the growth in the number of renter households has outpaced the growth in homeowner households, from 2011 to 2021, in Canada’s 41 large urban centres. The time for this House to pass our government’s proposed legislation that will improve the lives of so many of Ontario’s renters is now.

Speaker, through you, let me give the members of this House some examples of how our bill would help renters.

Our proposed legislation would clarify and enhance the rules regarding air conditioning in rental units. We propose to amend the Residential Tenancies Act so that when a landlord does not provide air conditioning, tenants would be permitted to install a window-mounted or portable air conditioning unit. Of course, this would be subject to some rules. A tenant would need to give written notice to the landlord of their intention to install an air conditioning unit prior to its installation. In addition, the air conditioning unit would need to be installed safely and securely, without causing damage, while complying with any applicable laws. Renters would pay for the air conditioner, the installation and the maintenance. And tenants who have electricity included in their rent could be charged a seasonal fee by the landlord, based on the actual electricity cost to the landlord or a reasonable estimate.

Our bill has even more advantages for renters. At a time when renters are faced with uncertain economic forces like inflation, our government is acting.

Our proposed legislation, if passed—along with future regulations—would increase tenant protections against evictions due to renovations or repairs, as well as evictions for a landlord’s own use of a unit. We intend to do this by giving tenants greater access to remedies and by increasing the reporting requirements that landlords must follow. If passed, this bill would require a landlord who is ending a tenancy to do renovations or repairs to provide a report stating that the rental unit needs to be vacant while that work is taking place. A future regulation would outline the details that must be included in that report. Regulations would also set out the required qualifications of the persons who could provide this report. Once these regulations are made, this document must be provided to the tenant along with an eviction notice; otherwise, the eviction notice would be considered invalid.

In situations where tenants have indicated they want to return to their old unit, our proposed changes would require landlords to provide written notification, without delay, of the estimated date when the unit will be ready for occupancy after the renovations or repairs are completed. In addition, written notification would again be required for any changes to that expected completion date and would need to include a new estimated completion date. And finally, when the unit is ready for occupancy, the landlord would be required to give the tenant a minimum 60-day grace period to move back in. This grace period is intended to accommodate the tenant’s requirement to provide 60-day notice to end their tenancy in their temporary accommodation if they are renting elsewhere while renovations are completed. If the tenant does move back in, the landlord would be required—as is the case currently—to charge the tenant a rent similar to what was charged before the renovations.

Speaker, as the law now stands, if a landlord fails to give the right of first refusal to an evicted tenant after renovations or repairs are completed, the tenant has two years within which to file a complaint with the Landlord and Tenant Board. Our proposed legislation would change the Residential Tenancies Act so that a tenant would have two years after moving out or six months after the renovations are complete, whichever is longer, to file their complaint. This would extend the tenant’s access to justice.

Our proposed legislation and related regulations would also tighten the rules regarding evictions when a landlord wishes to use a rental unit for their own use or for one of their family members. To help ensure these types of evictions are genuine, our proposed changes would set a time frame, to be prescribed in the regulation, within which a landlord or their family member must move into the unit after the unit becomes vacant. If the move is not made by that deadline, the landlord would be presumed to have acted in bad faith. The tenant could then apply to the Landlord and Tenant Board for a remedy, and the landlord would have the onus to prove to the board that the eviction was not in bad faith. The amount of time that a landlord would have to move in would be set at a future date, once our government has consulted on a fair and reasonable time period.

Our proposed legislation would also increase the maximum fines for offences under the Residential Tenancies Act. If passed, our legislation would amend the Residential Tenancies Act to double the fines under this act. The maximum fines would rise to $100,000 from $50,000 for individuals, and to $500,000 from $250,000 for corporations. We believe that increasing these fines would help deter rental housing offences such as unlawful evictions. Our government knows it is critical that tenants be protected from this type of behaviour.

Speaker, I’ve mentioned the Landlord and Tenant Board several times in regard to renovictions and own-use situations. However, there are many kinds of landlord-tenant disputes that get resolved through the Landlord and Tenant Board, and it is essential that the LTB be ready to adjudicate these disputes. That’s why our government is doubling the number of adjudicators to eliminate the backlog of cases at the LTB and reduce wait times for landlords and for tenants.

Our proposed legislation would also introduce other welcome improvements. It would amend the Residential Tenancies Act to mandate the use of the Landlord and Tenant Board’s form for rent repayment agreements. These agreements are used when a landlord has applied to the Landlord and Tenant Board to evict a tenant for owed rent, and the landlord and the tenant agree to a repayment plan. The LTB’s rent repayment agreement form is a legal document that sets out the terms of payment. Currently, there is no requirement for a specific form or format to be used for a repayment agreement. This would standardize these agreements, setting out in plain language the rights and obligations of both renters and landlords and the potential consequences if the agreement is breached.

Speaker, our government knows it is crucially important to protect and increase our province’s stock of rental housing. Building on More Homes Built Faster, one of our government’s earlier housing supply action plans which I mentioned earlier, our proposed legislation would make changes to the Municipal Act and the City of Toronto Act. These changes would be necessary to give the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing the regulation-making authority necessary to create a balanced regulatory framework governing municipal rental replacement bylaws. This would help streamline the construction and revitalization of rental housing, while protecting tenants.

Speaker, as things stand, rental replacement bylaws vary amongst municipalities. This includes requirements that municipalities impose around number, size, height and cost of rental units, as well as right of first refusal for existing tenants.

Our government envisions a regulatory framework where any municipality that establishes a bylaw must require that replacement units contain the same core features as the units they are replacing. By this we mean features such as the same number of bedrooms. We’re also considering permitting some flexibility when it comes to the overall size of the unit and the size of, for example, the bedrooms.

This regulatory framework could also require municipalities to impose a requirement on landowners to provide existing tenants with the right to move back into the replacement unit at similar rent levels. Our government is consulting on future regulations that would help ensure a balanced package of rules for these replacement bylaws.

I’ve outlined how our government’s proposed Helping Homebuyers, Protecting Tenants Act would strengthen protections and new rights for tenants. This legislation represents our government’s latest efforts to make life better for tenants and homebuyers across this great province. We have a responsibility to the people of Ontario to ensure that they have access to safe, affordable housing. This bill, if passed, will help us achieve that goal by strengthening protections and providing new rights for tenants, while also encouraging the construction of new rental housing.

I urge each and every one of the members here today to consider the impacts this legislation will have on the lives of so many Ontarians. Let us come together and pass this bill so that we can continue to make life better for renters and landlords across Ontario. We have done so much already, and yet there is still so much more to be done as we work towards our goal of building 1.5 million homes to ensure that every Ontarian has a safe and affordable place to call home.

Speaker, I would now like to turn the floor over to the parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.

I do want to thank the member for her question.

Speaker, it is this Premier and it’s this government that recognized the desperate need for more housing supply. The previous Liberals, supported by the NDP, never, ever made housing a priority—on the contrary, they were closing schools, they fired nurses, and they let our hospitals crumble. Well, no more. It’s this PC government that will get housing built for everyone.

Our plan is working. Record purpose-built rentals in the past two years; record housing starts; record funding for the Homelessness Prevention Program, the highest going to the city of Toronto; protection for tenants and landlords; providing those wraparound services for those in supportive housing; and doubling the adjudicators on the Landlord and Tenant Board—all while reducing red tape to get more housing built. It’s this Premier and this government that will get it done for everyone in Ontario.

I’d like to thank the member from Carleton for her question. This government has been given a strong mandate to ensure that Ontarians have access to safe and secure housing. We’re taking action to deliver on our mandate by encouraging innovative approaches to home ownership and housing supply, including tiny homes, second units and laneway suites.

We regularly update our building code to take advantage of technological advances, innovative new solutions and expert research, all while reducing red tape and making it easier and faster to build new homes. Through our Helping Homebuyers, Protecting Tenants Act, we are also proposing to continue streamlining developments and approvals while making it easier to train and recruit building inspectors.

Our government is committed to keeping Ontarians safe while also laying a solid foundation to address Ontario’s housing supply crisis over the long term.

I do want to thank the member opposite for her question, because it does allow us to highlight some of the work that our government is doing, especially through Bill 97.

Speaker, as we’ve heard many times before, two years ago, we had record housing starts. By doing that, we are building more housing for everybody, right across this province. The best part about that is that purpose-built rental is being built.

But do you know what? I’m not going to take any lessons from the NDP. I’d just like to remind everyone once again that in 1992, when the people of Ontario entrusted them to be the majority government, they had rent control at 6%. Inflation was only at about 1.4%. How do they justify that? That is their record, and that is what they did. They say no every time this government puts something forward. They say no to requiring landlords to make efforts to negotiate a repayment agreement with the tenant before the Landlord and Tenant Board, to make it easier so that nobody has to get evicted—

That’s why Ontario is the number one jurisdiction for people to come to live. This is the choice of people from across the world. This is the choice from all great businesses—to come here and to start a business, to grow a business. The Minister of Economic Development is bringing amazing companies here. We need the housing for the people who are going to work there. We’re building the infrastructure, the communities, the hospitals, and we’re reducing red tape to make sure it all gets done.

Yes—as we take decisive measures to strengthen tenant protections and remedies. That’s why Ontario’s rental housing starts so far this year are more than double the amount the same time last year.

That’s why Ontario is becoming the number one jurisdiction for businesses, for jobs, and for newcomers, with more active cranes in the skies of Toronto right now than there are in New York, Chicago, LA, Washington, DC, Seattle, and San Francisco combined.

But the NDP and Liberals would rather drag us back to the past. They would rather table legislation adding more red tape to delay, obstruct and oppose our progress.

In closing, our government is committed to ensuring the well-being of the people of Ontario and making sure that tenants and landlords are treated fairly. We’ll continue to look for ways to make homes more attainable for hard-working Ontarians, while making it easier to build more houses and rental units to address the ongoing supply crisis. This work is critical because we know that when communities and residents thrive, Ontario thrives.

I want to thank the member opposite for her question. It’s this government that stands shoulder to shoulder with our tenants across Ontario. We’re the only government that has taken decisive measures to strengthen protections for renters, whilst also putting in place measures for more rental housing. We’ve heard about the record purpose-built rentals.

But I want to take us back a little bit, to the dark days of the early 1990s, when we remember when the people of Ontario entrusted the NDP for one term to run this government. They had a majority, and what did they do? Let’s talk about rentals. The rental guideline in 1990 was 4.6%—

Interjections.

Interjections.

I’m really glad to hear that the member acknowledges that we have a massive housing supply crisis.

I chose Ontario as my home when I immigrated to Canada. I chose to be here.

I just have a very short question: Based on what we put forward in Bill 97, will the member be supporting Bill 97, helping tenants and helping people purchase their homes?

I really want to thank the great member from Whitby.

Speaker, nobody should be forced to move out of their homes. Ontarians work hard to pay their bills to keep a roof over their heads, so it is our job to ensure nobody is treated unfairly, which is why our latest bill, if passed, will give tenants and landlords the opportunity to resolve cases at the Landlord and Tenant Board up to six months after a renovation has been completed, to prevent unlawful evictions, and to work together to create a repayment agreement when a tenant falls behind on their rent.

We’re also proposing to double the maximum fines to $100,000 for individuals and $500,000 for corporations to help prevent and deter bad faith evictions.

We will continue to listen to and protect tenants and landlords to ensure everyone who is looking for a place to live can find one that meets their needs and their budget.

Yes, my colleague is right—on days when temperatures go above 30 degrees, having an air conditioning unit can be essential, especially for those who have underlying medical conditions relating to warm weather.

Our proposed legislation, if passed, will provide a clear road map for tenants who wish to install an air conditioner in their apartments. For example, they must give written notice to the landlord, and they can be charged a seasonal fee based on the electricity usage.

Our proposed changes reinforce existing laws and would provide tenants with additional supports so that they can assure that they have a safe and comfortable place to live.

We’re fixing the Landlord and Tenant Board—a need we hear about so often from both landlords and tenants alike.

I call on the opposition to stop standing up for the status quo, start standing up for Ontarians, and vote with us on Bill 97.

I thank the member for the question. It’s really important.

He is absolutely right; the changes under the Helping Homebuyers, Protecting Tenants Act, 2023, if passed, will introduce new actions to make life easier for renters by strengthening their rights and their protections. Some of these changes would double the maximum fines for offences under the Residential Tenancies Act—that would be now $100,000 for individuals and $500,000 for corporations. We doubled it in the past. We already have the strongest, and we’re making them even stronger, just to make sure that renters do have those protections.

When evicting a tenant to use the unit themselves or for one of their family members, a landlord would have to move into the unit by a specific deadline.

Having these measures in place is protecting tenants, which is what this government wants to do.

Thank you, Minister.

It really is an honour to be speaking today about the Helping Homebuyers, Protecting Tenants Act in my new capacity as the Associate Minister of Housing.

Interjections.

I look forward to supporting our government’s initiatives to help deliver on our commitment of 1.5 million homes in Ontario by 2031.

In my own riding of Mississauga–Streetsville, housing is a challenge for many of my constituents.

The Helping Homebuyers, Protecting Tenants Act is proposed legislation that is crucial to our government’s work to get more housing built in the province—housing that Ontarians across the province so desperately need.

Our housing supply action plans have made great progress in addressing our province’s housing crisis. We are now building on the bold actions we have already put forward.

As the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing said, more needs to be done. That is because Ontario’s housing crisis is affecting not just homebuyers. Renters, too, are struggling. This is significant, given that Statistics Canada data reveal the growth in the number of renter households has outpaced the growth of homeowner households from 2011 to 2021 in each of Canada’s 41 large urban centres. Ontario municipalities, like Barrie, Kitchener-Waterloo and Oshawa, saw some of the largest renter increases across the country.

That’s why I’m pleased to have this opportunity to highlight how the proposed Helping Homebuyers, Protecting Tenants Act would better protect tenants in Ontario and make their lives easier.

Speaker, I would like to start by explaining a feature of our proposed legislation that will be welcomed by many renters. This concerns clarifying and enhancing the rules regarding air conditioning in rental units.

As we have seen for decades in summers past, the sun and humidity can take its toll on people if they don’t have access to cool space. We propose to amend the Residential Tenancies Act so that when a landlord does not provide air conditioning, tenants would be permitted to install a window-mounted or portable air conditioning unit. This would be subject to, of course, some rules. First, a tenant must give written notice to the landlord of their intention to install an air conditioning unit prior to installation. Second, the air conditioning unit must be installed safely and securely, and the installation must not cause damage to the rental unit or the rental complex. Renters would also have to ensure that the installation and maintenance of the air conditioning unit complies with any applicable laws, including municipal bylaws and any prescribed rules. Finally, tenants who do not pay for electricity—that is, it is included in their rent—could be charged a seasonal fee. This would be based on the actual electricity cost to the landlord, or a reasonable estimate based on the information provided by the tenant.

Of course, we’re not stopping there. Speaker, you can pick up a newspaper just about anywhere in Ontario and read about renters, some of them long-term renters, who are facing an uncertain future about where they and their family are going to live because their rental unit is being renovated. We know this is an issue in the rental system and we’re trying to help. That is why our proposed legislation and future regulations would, if passed, increase tenant protections, specifically against evictions due to renovations as well as those for a landlord’s own use. What our government is proposing to do is to give tenants greater access to remedies and also increase the reporting requirements that landlord must follow.

Our proposed changes state that a landlord, where they are ending a tenancy to do renovations, would be required to provide a report stating that the rental unit needs to be vacant for the renovations. A regulation would outline what details must be included in the report. Regulations would also set out the type of person who can provide this report, such as a professional engineer or an architect, for example. Once these regulations are made, if this document is not provided for the tenant along with an eviction notice, then the eviction notice would not be considered valid.

Our changes would also require landlords to provide tenants who indicated that they wanted to return to the unit with written notification of the estimated date of when the unit will be ready for occupancy after the renovations are completed. Written notification would also be required for any change in when renovations are expected to wrap up—that includes a new estimated completion date.

When the unit is ready for occupancy, the landlord would have to give the tenant a 60-day grace period to occupy that unit again. This will enable the tenant to provide the required 60-day notice to end their tenancy in their temporary accommodation if they are renting elsewhere while the renovations are completed. Landlords must continue to allow tenants to move back in at a similar rent once renovations are complete.

Currently, if a landlord fails to give the right of first refusal to an evicted tenant after renovations are completed, a tenant is able to file a complaint with the Landlord and Tenant Board within two years. So we’re proposing changes to the Residential Tenancies Act that would give a tenant two years after moving out, or six months after renovations are complete—whichever is longer—to file a complaint. Adding the proposed six-month post-renovation time frame recognizes that some renovations may take more than two years to complete.

Similarly, our proposed legislation and related regulations would tighten the rules regarding evictions when a landlord wishes to use a rental unit for their own use or for the use of one of their family members. In cases like these, in order to address less-than-genuine evictions, our proposed changes would set a time frame, to be prescribed in regulation, within which a landlord or their family member must move into the unit. If this move is not made by that deadline, the landlord would be presumed to have acted in bad faith if and when the tenant applies to the Landlord and Tenant Board for a remedy. The length of this time frame would be set at a future date once our government has consulted on a fair time period.

What’s more, our government is proposing to increase the maximum fine for these offences. If passed, our legislation would amend the Residential Tenancies Act to double the maximum fines under this act. The maximum fines would rise to $100,000 from $50,000 for individuals, and to $500,000 from $250,000 for corporations. Even currently, Ontario’s maximum fines for residential tenancy offences are the highest in all of Canada. Increasing these fines further will deter ill-intentioned landlords from committing offences such as unlawful evictions.

It is critical that tenants are protected from this type of behaviour.

However, we know that there are still many other kinds of landlord-tenant disputes that get resolved through the Landlord and Tenant Board. Our housing supply action plan wants to ensure tenants and landlords have timely access to justice. That is why the province is also investing $6.5 million to appoint an additional 40 adjudicators and hire five new staff at the Landlord and Tenant Board. This investment is critical to our dispute resolution system, and it should help eliminate the backlog of cases at the LTB and reduce wait times.

Our proposed legislation would also amend the Residential Tenancies Act to mandate the use of the Landlord and Tenant Board’s form for rent repayment agreements. This would be used when a tenant owes back rent and the landlord and the tenant agree to a repayment plan without immediately resorting to eviction. If the parties come to a repayment agreement, this legal document would set out the terms of repayment. Currently, there is no requirement for a repayment agreement to be in a certain form or format. This form provided by the Landlord and Tenant Board sets out, in plain language, that the landlord can apply to evict a tenant if the agreement is breached.

Speaker, I now want to move on to talk about what our proposed legislation would provide in terms of encouraging the building of rental housing. Our government is also working to protect and increase our province’s rental housing stock.

Building on More Homes Built Faster, we propose to make further legislative changes to the Municipal Act and the City of Toronto Act—and other acts, as necessary—to establish regulation-making authority to help create a balanced regulatory framework governing municipality rental replacement bylaws. Where municipalities require landowners to build replacement units, future regulations could require that new units contain the same core features as the original unit—this means features such as the same number of bedrooms, while permitting some flexibility when it comes to the size of the unit. Future regulations could also require municipalities to impose a requirement on landowners to provide existing tenants the right to move back into the unit at similar rent levels.

As well, we will be consulting on future regulations that would help form this balanced package of rules I have just talked about.

Speaker, as you can see, our government’s proposed Helping Homebuyers, Protecting Tenants Act contains stronger protections and new rights for tenants. I truly believe that these proposed changes will make life easier for renters and landlords in Ontario.

I again want to express how much I look forward to supporting our government in my new role as we work towards our goal of helping build 1.5 million homes—homes for renters, homes for first-time homebuyers, homes for empty nesters who want to downsize.

We, as a government, are committed to making Ontario the best place to live, to work and to raise a family.

I encourage all members of this House to vote in favour of this bill.

I would like to now turn the floor over to the parliamentary assistant for municipal affairs and housing.