Toronto needs to take action on rooming houses, planning chair Peter Milczyn urges

Toronto Star
March 21, 2014
By Paul Moloney

In the wake of this week’s deadly fire in the Kensington Market neighbourhood, Toronto council needs to revisit the issue of regulating rooming houses, says Councillor Peter Milczyn.

Milczyn, who heads the planning committee, wants to revive the politically difficult debate before this fall’s election.
There are about 300 licensed rooming houses in zones where they’re allowed in the central city, says the Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario.

The number of rooming houses operating without such oversight is unknown, but a 2004 study for the city said there are likely to be as many or more unlicensed as are licensed.

Toronto is a patchwork when it comes to rooming houses. They’re permitted in parts of Etobicoke, Toronto and York, but banned outright in East York, North York and Scarborough.

If rooming houses were permitted and licensed city-wide, there would be more licence fees to fund more inspections for fire and building code violations, said Councillor Adam Vaughan, who renewed his strong advocacy for changes since the day of the fire.

A stronger inspection capability could help prevent tragedies like the one in Kensington Market, which killed two people and sent 10 others to hospital, he said. “The more (licensed facilities) we have, the more inspectors we have and the greater chance we have to make sure problems are addressed.”

The Ontario Human Rights Commission has urged Toronto to permit rooming houses throughout the city to provide affordable shelter for people with disabilities, single people on welfare and newcomers.

“The reason we advocate it is because we know rooming houses are an important source of housing for particular groups, some of whom are protected by the code,” said chief commissioner Barbara Hall.

“To exclude rooming houses is keeping people out of communities,” added Hall, a former Toronto mayor. “We also expect that proper provisions would be in place to keep people safe, so there needs to be standards and enforcement procedures.”

However, tackling the rooming house file is a tough sell politically, Milczyn said. Constituents don’t like them, and suburban councillors want to continue the ban.

Milczyn said the ban is routinely flouted anyway, and rooming houses operate underground without adhering to proper standards. The argument is that if rooming houses were permitted, landlords might be more likely to get a licence and try to comply with fire and building codes.

“The reality is that we have rooming houses now, most of which are illegal, unregulated, and there’s little ability to go in and inspect when there are complaints,” he said.

“Different parts of the city, there are lots of illegal ones, and we can’t do anything about them. I would think it’s better to control it and regulate it and make it safe.”

However, Milczyn noted that members of his planning and growth management committee voted a few months ago to put off looking at a staff report on the issue until after the Oct. 27 election.
Councillor John Filion (Ward 23, Willowdale), who sits on the committee, said people don’t want rooming houses, and he agrees with them.

“I’m pretty much certain that the residents of North York do not want as-of-right rooming houses,” said Filion.

“I just do not see rooming houses as something that creates anything positive for the people who are living in them or the people who are living next door to them.”

Toronto’s affordable housing shortage - illustrated by the huge waiting list for subsidized homes - forces people to turn to rooming houses, said Ken Hale, legal director for the Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario.

“It’s a rent that people in low-wage jobs, social assistance, disability, can afford,” Hale said.

“They can’t get into subsidized housing, which is what they really need. Most people don’t want to live in one room.

It can’t be much fun living with children in a room in a rooming house.”

Michael Shapcott, who worked on a pilot project after the 1989 Rupert Hotel fire that killed 10 people, said tenants of underground rooming houses number in the hundreds.

Shapcott, now with the Wellesley Institute, said permitting and licensing rooming houses could lead to a partnership with landlords. For example, loans could be offered for fire safety upgrades.

“We found landlords don’t actually want to run firetraps where any day they could pick up the phone and hear somebody’s died in their building.

“We can prevent people from dying through proper fire alarms, fire separation and exits. This is not rocket science.”