Municipal Resources
This is a bylaw enforcement program that ensures apartment building owners and operators comply with building maintenance standards. The program applies to apartment buildings with three or more storeys and 10 or more units. After first contacting your landlord to attempt to resolve the issue, you can create a service request if the issue is still not resolved. Please find detailed instructions here: https://www.toronto.ca/community-people/housing-shelter/rental-housing-tenant-information/rental-housing-standards/apartment-building-standards/rentsafeto-for-tenants/rentsafeto-for-tenants-service-requests-complaints-investigations/.
Property Standards Bylaw sets the standards for all properties in Toronto. If you rent from a building that does not fall under RentSafeTO’s jurisdiction, you can create a property standards service request instead through 311. For more information on property standards, please see here: https://www.toronto.ca/city-government/public-notices-bylaws/bylaw-enforcement/property-standards-keep/#:~:text=The%20Property%20Standards%20bylaw%20is,complaint%20about%20a%20bylaw%20violation.
Create a service request here: https://www.toronto.ca/home/311-toronto-at-your-service/create-a-service-request/service-request/?request=0VS6g000000DzekGAC
There are several tenant advocacy resources in the City of Toronto, providing a range of support to tenants. Contact information for each organization is found below.
Federation of Metro Tenants’ Associations
416-921-9494 | hotline@torontotenants.org
https://www.torontotenants.org/
Community Legal Education Ontario – Steps to Justice
Program website: https://stepstojustice.ca/
Homepage: https://www.cleo.on.ca/en
Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario
https://www.acto.ca/
Landlord Tenant Board assistance program: https://tdc.acto.ca/
No Demovictions
nodemovictionsontario@gmail.com
https://www.nodemovictions.ca/
Canadian Centre for Housing Rights
416-944-0087 | cchr@housingrightscanada.com
https://housingrightscanada.com/
The Centre for Immigrant and Community Services
416-292-7510 ext. 118 / 416-940-3308 | housing.support@cicscanada.com
https://www.cicscanada.com/en/
The City of Toronto has an Eviction Prevention Handbook available in English, Tamil, Tagalog, Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese. The following link will direct you to PDFs of the handbook, the eviction process, and Eviction Prevention in the Community Program: https://www.toronto.ca/community-people/housing-shelter/rental-housing-tenant-information/understand-fight-evictions/?accordion=eviction-prevention-handbook
Community legal clinics provide legal advice to a broad variety of situations constituents might face, but some are specialized to specific issues or specific demographics. You can find your closest legal aid clinic and your eligibility here: https://www.legalaid.on.ca/legal-clinics/. Alternatively, see below for a list of the legal clinics in Ward 11, University-Rosedale. Please double-check with the organizations on whether they can assist with housing issues.
Kensington-Bellwoods Community Legal Services
489 College St., Suite 205, M6G 1A5
416-924-4244 | www.kbcls.org
West Toronto Community Legal Services
1032 Bloor St. W., M6H 1M2
416-531-7376 | www.wtcls.org
Downtown Legal Service, University of Toronto, Faculty of Law,
655 Spadina Ave., M5S 2H9
416-978-6447 | ww.downtownlegalservices.ca
Chinese and Southeast Asian Legal Clinic
123 Edward Street, Suite 505, Toronto, M5G 1E2
416-971-9674 | www.csalc.ca
Workers’ Health & Safety Legal Clinic
180 Dundas St. W., Suite 2000, Toronto, M5G 1Z8
416-971-8832 | www.workers-safety.ca
Black Legal Action Centre
720 Spadina Ave., Suite 221, Toronto, M5S 2T9
416-597-5831 | www.blacklegalactioncentre.ca
For a copy of our Tenant Resource Guide card, you can contact our office at Councillor_Saxe@toronto.ca.
If the above supports do not cover what you need, other programs are listed below.
Housing Help Centres: non-profit agencies that help people find and keep housing and avoid eviction. Find a Housing Centre near you with this link: https://www.toronto.ca/community-people/housing-shelter/rental-housing-tenant-information/organizations-that-can-help/.
Housing Stabilization Fund: provides money for emergency housing needs to people in Toronto receiving financial assistance issued to migrants under an emergency authorization for humanitarian reasons.
Website: https://www.toronto.ca/community-people/employment-social-support/housing-support/financial-support-for-renters/housing-stabilization-fund/
Rent Reduction Program: The Residential Tenancies Act allows residential tenants to reduce their rents when the rental buildings in which they live have had a property tax decrease over two consecutive years.
Website: https://www.toronto.ca/services-payments/property-taxes-utilities/property-tax/rent-reduction/
Emergency Energy Fund: Low-income Toronto residents who are not receiving assistance from Ontario Works or Ontario Disability Support Program may qualify for help from the City of Toronto with energy-related emergencies to reconnect, prevent disconnection or to assist in the payment of energy arrears for hydro, gas or oil.
Website: https://www.toronto.ca/community-people/employment-social-support/support-for-people-in-financial-need/assistance-through-ontario-works/policies-and-procedures/emergency-energy-fund-eef/
Rent-Geared-to-Income Subsidy: Rent-Geared-to-Income, or subsidized housing, is made available by the City to make rent affordable for households.
Website: https://www.toronto.ca/community-people/employment-social-support/housing-support/rent-geared-to-income-subsidy/
Affordable Housing Opportunities: To stay up-to-date with the latest opportunities for affordable housing in Toronto, more information can be found at these links.
Renting: https://www.toronto.ca/community-people/community-partners/housing-partners/affordable-rental-homes/
Ownership: https://www.toronto.ca/community-people/community-partners/housing-partners/affordable-ownership-housing-providers/
Provincial Assistance
Due to the Landlord Tenant Board (LTB) being a provincial body, your local City Councillor won’t be able to provide as much guidance or assistance on LTB cases as we wish we could. You are welcome to contact your local MPP and refer to the resources below.
Read about the rights and responsibilities of landlords and tenants in Ontario under the Residential Tenancies Act and processes at the Landlord and Tenant Board.
https://tribunalsontario.ca/ltb/help-for-tenants/
416-645-8080
Read about the laws that affect residential tenants and landlords in Ontario. Information on eviction, leases, guideline increases, and other helpful resources can be found here: https://www.ontario.ca/page/renting-ontario-your-rights.
Learn the rules of the Residential Tenancies Act to find out if your landlord or tenant has broken the law. More information can be found here: https://www.ontario.ca/page/rental-housing-offences.
Learn how you can make a complaint and how we can help if a landlord or tenant breaks a rule under the Residential Tenancies Act. More information here:
https://www.ontario.ca/page/solve-disagreement-your-landlord-or-tenant.
416-585-7214 | RHEU.info@ontario.ca
Further Resources
Below is an assortment of other tenant resources that might be helpful to you.
For guidance on moving day, inspections, and rent help, the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation has tips for tenants and landlords. The information gathered here goes above and beyond what a Councillor’s office can suggest and can target specific questions you might have about renting. You can refer here: https://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/consumers/renting-a-home/i-am-renting.
The Neighbourhood Group offers free, confidential mediation services through the City of Toronto. If you are having a disagreement with a neighbour, roommate, or landlord, you can access their services. More information here: https://tngcommunityto.org/Programs-Services/Programs/Community-Mediation?cat=8825.
The Rental Registry allows you to know the rent paid for a rental unit, currently or in the past. Their map can be found here: https://rentalregistry.ca/en/on/map.
This page has information on “renovictions”, above guideline increases, and own-use evictions. You can search your landlord’s name or your building address to see if they have a history of any of these three actions against tenants. Their tracker is available here: https://renovictionsto.com/tracker. They rely on tenants to report these infractions, therefore if you do not see your building, it does not necessarily mean there is no history at that address.
Toronto HomeShare: a program that matches seniors wishing to share a spare room in their home with students seeking affordable housing. In exchange for reduced rent, the student provides up to 7 hours of companionship and/or assistance.
Website: https://www.canadahomeshare.com/
Kehilla: Kehilla’s mandate is to identify and champion affordable housing initiatives responsive to the needs of the Jewish community in the Greater Toronto Area.
Website: https://www.kehilla.ca/
Unison Health and Community Services: This program includes three main services: Housing Help Centre, Rent Bank and Streets to Homes follow-up services.
Website: http://unisonhcs.org/service/housing-help-program/
North House: The Housing Stability Program (HSP) assists low-income households who are at risk of homelessness or are currently homeless to secure housing or to help prevent eviction.
Website: https://northhouse.ca/housing-stability-program/
Canada-Ontario Housing Benefit: The Canada-Ontario Housing Benefit program provides households with a portable housing benefit to assist with rental costs in the private housing market. The application process is not open to the public. There are approximately 120 referring partners, working directly with people experiencing homelessness, asylum seekers, and Indigenous people.
Call: 416-338-8888
Experiencing Homelessness
If you or someone you know, is experiencing homelessness, the following government services are available.
- For emergency shelter, call 311 or Central Intake at 416-338-4766 or 1-877-338-3398. For Streets to Homes outreach services, call 311.
- For support finding housing or avoiding eviction, visit a Housing Help Centre near you (see above), or call 416-285-8070. If you are Indigenous, you may prefer to visit an Aboriginal Housing Support Centre location or call 416-900-1082. Centres can be found here: https://aboriginalhsc.org/
- To learn more about Indigenous-specific homelessness services, shelters and housing opportunities, visit the Toronto Aboriginal Supports Services Council (https://tassc.ca/) or the Tkaronto Indigenous Peoples Portal (https://live.indigenousto.ca/).
- For provincially-funded supportive housing, apply through the Access Point, available here: https://theaccesspoint.ca/.
- For a list of warming centres, shelters, pet supports, public washrooms, and drop-in programs, the City of Toronto has a compiled web page available here: https://www.toronto.ca/community-people/housing-shelter/homeless-help/