After two deferred votes, will Toronto city council finally legalize rooming houses this week?

Thestar.com
Dec. 14, 2022

Is the third time the charm for legalizing rooming houses across Toronto?

That’ll be put to the test this week, as city council on Wednesday is once again set to consider a staff proposal to harmonize Toronto’s rooming house laws. Today, the patchwork system of a pre-amalgamated city remains in place -- with rooming houses banned in Scarborough, East York and North York, allowed with a licence in the old city of Toronto and Etobicoke, and allowed without a licence in York.

Seen by city staff as one of the few private market options accessible to low-income residents, single rooms can rent for as little as $400. But twice in the last year and a half, council has deferred the vote -- once in July 2021, as Mayor John Tory said the proposal was in jeopardy of failing, and again three months later, as he said it was still too “divisive” to pass.

As the rooming house debate has simmered at city hall for more than a decade, it’s drawn a divide between urban and suburban representatives, with councillors such as Scarborough Southwest’s Gary Crawford raising concern about the “integrity” of single-family areas.

The city’s ability to crack down on illegal rooming houses has also been a concern. Critics have suggested the city needs better enforcement plans prior to expanded legalization, while supporters have argued that keeping rooming houses illegal in some areas pushes people who can’t afford market rent into potentially unsafe living conditions.

“The current rules don’t prevent rooming houses. What they do is drive them underground so that tenants aren’t guaranteed that there’s a proper fire inspection, that property standards are met,” said Coun. Gord Perks (Ward 4 Parkdale--High Park), a supporter of legalization.

From 2010 to 2021, Toronto Fire says 16 people in the city have died in rooming house fires: 14 in unlicensed rooming houses and two in licensed ones.

The double deferral of legalization in 2021 was seen as a rare loss for the mayor.

At the time, council asked staff to look at the feasibility of changing the proposed parking rules for rooming houses and scrapping options for larger houses, to conduct public opinion research, and to report back on an enhanced enforcement staffing plan.

Under the 2021 proposal, most rooming houses would be capped at six rooms, though some could have up to 25. There wouldn’t be parking required in the old city of Toronto and along some transit routes, with roughly one parking spot per three rooms required elsewhere. And staff had suggested boosting its enforcement team from six people to 22.

This week, the framework is being reintroduced alongside a Tory proposal for a more “aggressive” housing plan at city hall. Tory now wields new powers from Queen’s Park that allow him to make changes with the support of only eight of 25 councillors -- powers he suggested in November he could use to bring in new housing options such as rooming houses -- but he said Tuesday he doesn’t expect to have to actually wield them.

“Any thought of the additional authorities being necessary are not on the table,” Tory said, noting that while he doesn’t believe any opponents of legalization have changed their mind since October 2021, this year’s election yielded a new council he believes is tilted in favour.

On paper, the same reports as last year are on the council agenda, though the original implementation date of November 2022 has been changed to March 31, 2024, and it comes with a Tory motion suggesting additional moves like creating a rooming house public education plan.

Deputy mayor Jennifer McKelvie is also expected to put forward a motion during the meeting with further changes, including adjustments to parking standards and a requirement that any corporations running rooming houses be registered at Ontario addresses.

Since last year, McKelvie says city staff have updated an enforcement plan for homes that aren’t in legal compliance. Her motion, she said, will also ask for a third-party review in 2028 to examine how the new framework was implemented and enforced.

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“My goal is to have as many people onside as possible, including councillors from the suburbs,” she said.

The rollout of the new system would be staggered, with McKelvie sharing staff’s updated timeline proposal with the Star. In the next year, staff would focus on tasks such as education and outreach, expanding the enforcement team, launching the new licensing system and tribunal.

For the first year after legalization, the staff’s focus would be on transitioning licensed operators into the new framework, and focusing on unlicensed homes issued notices of violation or charges. Staff would also aim in this year to “identify and enforce against” high-risk operators.

Then, from March 2025 to March 2026, the focus would shift to outreach to new operators.