Item - 2019.PH10.4

The Planning and Housing Committee recommends that:  

1. City Council amend City of Toronto Municipal Code, Chapter 354, Apartment Buildings, as follows:

a. Require landlords to display a copy of the building evaluation result document, received by the City following their last evaluation, on the tenant notification board, and provide copies to any persons who request it.

b. Require landlords to post information on the RentSafeTO program, including contact information for 311, on the tenant notification board.

c. Require landlords to post information related to any violations of the Ontario Fire Code, as identified by Toronto Fire, on the tenant notification board.

d. Require landlords to provide information directly to tenants on the RentSafeTO program annually and on signing of a lease agreement.

e. Amend the requirement that landlords post information on the tenant notification board about air conditioned spaces in the building to include information about other places on the property that offer relief from uncomfortably warm indoor temperatures, including a cooling room or shaded area.

f. Amend the requirement that landlords post pest management information on the tenant notification board to also include:

1. certificate or other documentation provided by a licensed pest control operator upon completion of pest control services when services are received;

2. schedule of pest control services, including anticipated treatment and preventative activities;

3. service standards for pest control services, including timelines that tenants can expect for scheduling treatment when a landlord is made aware of the presence of pests; and

4. information on any pesticide or other product used by a licensed pest control operator during pest control activity.

g. Require that notice of regular visits by RentSafeTO staff be posted on Tenant Notification Boards at least 30 days prior to building audits with appropriate contact information for staff, or registering complaints, so that tenants can ensure inspection plans incorporate relevant pre-existing issues.

h. Require that landlords develop and maintain a capital plan for each rental building that includes a comprehensive 5-year forecast extending beyond major capital repairs to include common element improvements, and other anticipated work that will impact tenants' access to, or enjoyment of, their rental property and that this be made accessible to tenants upon request within 60 days. Capital elements included in the plan should include, but not be limited to the following:

1. Roofs
2. Elevators
3. Building facades
4. Windows
5. Major mechanical and air treatment systems
6. Garages
7. Interior flooring and wall finishes
8. Balconies
9. Guardrails
10. Stairwells and stairwell handrails
11. Building access and emergency exit doors

2. City Council amend the City of Toronto Municipal Code, Chapter 441, Fees and Charges, by adding a variable fee (see Table 1 below) for recovery of costs associated with the provision of Emergency Social Services, including direct aid such as lodging, administrative expenses and ancillary costs in instances when:

a. A substantial portion of a building becomes uninhabitable, as determined by the appropriate regulatory authority or authorities, because of vital services disruptions, fire, flood or other occurrence;

b. the building is three or more stories, with 10 or more units (as per the RentSafeTO registration requirements); and

c. the landlord does not provide re-housing for tenants.

Table 1: Chapter 441, Fees and Charges, Schedule 12, New Cost Recovery Fee for Emergency Social Services in Apartment Buildings

 3. City Council direct that all fees in Table 1 above, shall be waived for social housing providers. Social housing providers are:

a. Toronto Community Housing Corporation.

b. A non-profit provider of assisted or social housing under a program administered by the City of Toronto.

c. A dedicated supportive housing provider funded by the Province of Ontario.

4. City Council request the Province of Ontario move forward with the Access to Consumer Credit Reports and Elevator Availability Act, 2018, or introduce similar legislation to address concerns around safety, reliability and availability of elevators.

5. City Council direct that the changes to the City of Toronto Municipal Code Chapter 354, Apartment Buildings, come into effect on March 1, 2020.

6. City Council direct that the changes to the City of Toronto Municipal Code Chapter 441, Fees and Charges, come into effect immediately.

 
7. City Council direct the Executive Director, Municipal Licensing and Standards, to provide information for tenants on how to report or escalate property standards issues on the Tenant Information Portal.

8. City Council direct the Executive Director, Municipal Licensing and Standards, to evaluate the feasibility of expanding the criteria of building evaluations to include the condition of building roofs, pest infestations, the presence of mould, water pressure, the condition of unit windows, and compliance with existing Tenant Notification Board requirements, working with other divisional staff where necessary, and report back to the March 23, 2020 meeting of the Planning and Housing Committee.

9. City Council direct the Executive Director, Municipal Licensing and Standards, to evaluate the feasibility of requiring that landlords provide all tenants with information about RentSafeTO when issuing N2 forms and report back to the March 23, 2020 meeting of the Planning and Housing Committee.  

10. City Council direct the City Manager to request the provincial government to provide City of Toronto Municipal Standards Officers the ability to investigate Residential Tenancies Act infractions as part of RentSafe.

11. City Council reaffirm its direction to the Executive Director, Municipal Licensing and Standards to develop standard operating procedure service standards for 2020, subject to annual review, for Municipal Standards Officers which provide targeted timelines by violation category to bring landlords into compliance with City by-laws from the date an order is issued, and make the standards available to the public on the RentSafe website by the first quarter of 2020.

12. City Council direct the Executive Director, Municipal Licensing and Standards to create a rating system similar to the City's "Dinesafe" program that requires landlords to post a colour-coded sign that displays the City's rating in a prominent, publicly identifiable location, along with posting the same information on the RentSafe website, and report to the Planning and Housing Committee in the first quarter of 2020.

13. City Council reaffirm its direction to the Executive Director, Municipal Licensing and Standards to establish guidelines for when the Property Standards Committee can grant time extensions on work orders and to limit those criteria to only those situations that are deemed as extraordinary circumstances and report to the Planning and Housing Committee in the first quarter of 2020.

14. City Council reaffirm its direction to the Executive Director, Municipal Licensing and Standards to report on the following to the Planning and Housing Committee in the first quarter of 2020:

a. the proposed Administrative Penalty By-law, and increased set fines which would apply to violations under the Rental Apartment Building By-law; and

b. the proposed policies and operating procedures, organizational changes and financing requirements to enhance the capacity of Municipal Licensing and Standards to undertake remedial action.

15. City Council reaffirm its direction to the Executive Director, Municipal Licensing and Standards to allocate $60,000 of the program budget for tenant engagement to be used for direct door-to-door engagement regarding tenant rights and responsibilities, and advice on how tenants can participate in Toronto's by-law for apartment buildings, subject to the criteria Council established in 2017.LS17.1, Part 42.

The Planning and Housing Committee:

1.  Directed the Executive Director, Municipal Licensing and Standards to:

a. consult with tenant and advocacy organizations, the Greater Toronto Apartment Association and the Federation of Rental Housing Providers on the Planning and Housing Committee's recommendations to City Council, and report directly to City Council with the result of these consultations.

b. report directly to City Council on the feasibility of the implementation of the Planning and Housing Committee's recommendations to City Council.

2. Referred the following motion by Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam to the Subcommittee on the Protection of Affordable Rental Housing for consideration at its November 20, 2019 meeting:

"City Council request the Toronto Police Service Board to investigate false "renovictions", Landlord's Own Use evictions, and other similar fraudulent activities conducted by landlords under section 380 (1) of the Criminal Code of Canada."

The Executive Director, Municipal Licensing and Standards and the Director, Policy and Strategic Support, Municipal Licensing and Standards gave a presentation on Amendments to Chapter 354, Apartment Buildings and Progress Update on RentSafeTO.

This report provides an update on the Apartment Buildings By-law, Chapter 354, and the RentSafeTO program. This report also recommends improvements to the By-law.

The RentSafeTO program is the first of its kind in Canada, and builds on the City of Toronto's previous Multi-Residential Apartment Buildings (MRAB) program. The objectives of the new program are to strengthen enforcement of City by-laws, enhance tenant engagement and access to information, promote preventative maintenance in apartment buildings to prevent the deterioration of standards, and recover the cost of ensuring compliance through user fees.

This report provides an update on the Apartment Buildings By-law, Chapter 354, and the RentSafeTO program. This report also recommends improvements to the By-law.

The RentSafeTO program is the first of its kind in Canada, and builds on the City of Toronto's previous Multi-Residential Apartment Buildings (MRAB) program. The objectives of the new program are to strengthen enforcement of City by-laws, enhance tenant engagement and access to information, promote preventative maintenance in apartment buildings to prevent the deterioration of standards, and recover the cost of ensuring compliance through user fees.

RentSafeTO is a registration, audit and enforcement program enabled by Toronto Municipal Code Chapter 354, Apartment Buildings, a by-law adopted by City Council in March 2017. The program came into effect July 1, 2017 and applies to all apartment buildings with three or more storeys and 10 or more units, which accounts for 30 percent of Toronto's residents who live in approximately 3,500 apartment buildings across the city.

The program provides the City with additional enforcement mechanisms, and establishes a risk-based approach to evaluating and auditing apartment buildings, with the aim of enhancing the quality of living standards in the City's rental stock. 

Highlights of the RentSafeTO program are:

- As of October 2019, a total of 3,446 buildings have registered with the City.

- In the first year of the program, staff evaluated 3,420 registered buildings. A total of 68 buildings did not pass evaluations, and were subject to an audit.

- In the second year of the program, staff re-evaluated 1,801 of the lowest scoring buildings from the first year. A total of 18 buildings did not pass evaluations and were subject to an audit.

- Buildings scored an average of 12 percent higher in the second year of the program compared to the first year.

- Since the introduction of the program, staff have worked to rectify 3,305 building deficiencies, and have closed 43 Notices of Violation and 245 Orders to Comply.

- In order to provide landlords information about the building maintenance standards established in the by-law, staff developed a Building Owner Handbook that outlines the requirements related to capital repair plans, cleaning plans, pest management, tenant service requests, and more.

- In order to increase public awareness of the program, staff have created dedicated websites for both tenants and landlords, and participated in OpenStreetsTO in the summers of 2018 and 2019. Advertisements have been placed in newspapers (in 12 different languages); TTC subways, buses and stations; transit shelters; campuses, restaurants and bars; magazines; the PATH underground system; various high-traffic websites; and social media.

- Apartment building data collected through the registration process, as well as the results from the evaluation process, have been uploaded to the City's Open Data Portal.

 
City staff conducted research, analysis and consultation throughout 2018 and 2019 to assess how the program has been working since the introduction of the by-law, including consultations with the general public, and tenant and landlord stakeholders. Staff found that the RentSafeTO program has been effective in meeting its objectives to date. The program is still in its early stages, and staff continue to work to improve the program and bring landlords into compliance with the By-law. Based on research, analysis and consultation findings, staff have identified opportunities for improvement at this time.

The report recommends introducing a tool for the City to recover costs associated with providing Emergency Social Services (e.g. temporary lodging), in instances when a building must be evacuated and landlords do not provide supports such as temporary accommodation. This proposal aims to better enable the City and partner agencies to effectively respond to emergencies, encourage landlords to make their best efforts to accommodate displaced tenants if possible, and enable the City to recover costs related to providing Emergency Social Services where necessary.

The report also recommends additional enhancements to the program, including: requirements for landlords to post the results of evaluations within their buildings and provide results to existing and prospective tenants when requested; requirements for landlords to provide additional information on pest management activities and greater public education on best practices; and greater outreach to improve awareness of the program, including increased tenant engagement. Finally, this report responds to directives from Council regarding indoor temperatures within apartment buildings, and requests the Province move forward with legislation to address concerns around elevator availability, reliability and safety.

This report was prepared in consultation with Legal Services, the Office of Emergency Management, Toronto Fire, Toronto Building, Social Development, Finance and Administration, the Housing Secretariat, Toronto Public Health, Environment and Energy, and the Resilience Office.