Toronto votes to legalize rooming houses citywide in 2024

Thestar.com
Dec. 15, 2022

Rooming houses will be legal in every corner of Toronto in a little over a year, after more than a decade of city hall debate.

On Wednesday, city council approved a framework that, effective March 2024, will allow tenants to legally rent single rooms with shared bathrooms and kitchens in parts of Toronto where they are currently prohibited -- Scarborough, East York and North York.

Council also approved a citywide licensing system, where licences weren’t previously required in York, but were necessary in the old cities of Toronto and Etobicoke.

Rooming houses, also known as multi-tenant houses, are seen by city staff as a critical form of affordable housing -- among the most affordable private market rentals in Toronto today.

The legalization of rooming houses has historically drawn a divide between the city’s urban and suburban councillors. The effort to harmonize laws left over from before the city’s amalgamation had been batted between council and staff for years, with a vote on the latest proposal deferred twice in the last year and a half. At the time, Mayor John Tory acknowledged the proposal was in jeopardy of failing, labelling the pitch too “divisive” to push ahead.

Those deferrals were seen as a rare loss for the mayor, who suggested as recently as last month that he could use the extraordinary new powers he was granted by Queen’s Park -- powers to pass items without majority approval -- to add denser housing options such as rooming houses.

As it turned out Wednesday, the new legalization and licensing system passed with 18 votes in favour, and only eight councillors voting against the proposal.

“I’ll be honest with you, I have tried 12 times -- 12 times! -- to get to this vote over the course of the last 14 years,” said Coun. Gord Perks (Parkdale--High Park), a long-time advocate for legalization, during the debate. “It’s a remarkable step forward, and I hope that we continue that momentum.”

The reports that passed Wednesday proposed that most rooming houses across Toronto be capped at six dwelling rooms, though some could have up to 25. The original implementation date of November 2022 was changed to March 31, 2024.

Other changes passed at council include the creation a rooming house public education plan, as well as a motion by deputy mayor Jennifer McKelvie that six rooms be kept as the maximum across all areas where rooming houses have, to date, been illegal. Property owners would have to apply to the committee of adjustment for permission to build more.

Her motion also asked that city staff report annually on the rollout of the new framework, that a third-party review of implementation be conducted on the fourth anniversary of legalization, and that businesses operating rooming houses have a registered address within the province.

Those changes were all approved by council.

During Wednesday’s meeting, councillors questioned staff for details on their enforcement plan against illegal homes. Staff declined to give an estimate of how many exist, but said the city had identified roughly 80 “problem properties.”

Staff were also asked how they would ensure tenants didn’t lose their homes during the transition. Abi Bond, executive director of Toronto’s Housing Secretariat, said while safeguarding tenants would be a “critical piece” of the rollout, the city was still in the process of setting up responses.

Carleton Grant, executive director of municipal licensing and standards, pointed to a previous pilot project in Parkdale aimed at bringing illegal rooming houses into legal compliance. The city worked with individual landlords to figure out site-specific solutions like rezoning, he said.

“It is labour intensive,” Grant added.

Leading up to the formal legalization date in early 2024, staff said they intend to focus on tasks such as outreach to existing rooming house operators and residents, to better understand what might be needed to smooth the transition.

While staff are also examining potential incentives to assist operators in updating their properties to meet the new standards, Bond said details are still being ironed out, noting some “key” tools at the city’s disposal included grant money or agreements to waive municipal fees.

“Changing this is the right thing to do,” Tory told reporters prior to the vote on Wednesday. “Morally, legally, and from an affordable housing perspective, the status quo cannot continue.”