Kitchener city councillors were forced to face the harsh reality many of their citizens are facing as they discussed the potential of a renoviction bylaw.
Council was considering a staff report outlining how long it could take to come up with a comprehensive document examining renoviction bylaws in other Ontario municipalities.
‘Renoviction’ refers to the practice of forcing a tenant out of building, citing the need for extensive renovations or repairs in their unit.
City staff said they could provide council with a report by June 2025, saying they needed time to review how similar bylaws have worked in other jurisdictions, such as Hamilton, London and Toronto.
“Feels like a betrayal”
Some renters in the city, however, said they simply cannot wait that long.
“We talk a lot about things like building affordable housing, yet we rarely discuss keeping what little affordable housing we have left,” delegate Zackery Smith said during an emotional presentation to council. “10 units in a new high-rise is something we fight for, but 30 units in our buildings being wiped out – suddenly there’s silence. My wife cannot afford an apartment in Kitchener while supporting her disabled husband. The current policies in place let people, like my landlord, put constituents into homelessness and the issues that causes will only grow worse for the city while we continue to take no action against it.”
Smith shared he requires palliative care after his melanoma spread to his lungs, kidneys and bones.
“What keeps me up at night is not when the reaper comes for his dues, it’s what happens to my wife when I’m gone,” he continued. “What she has to deal with. Who she has to fight to try to have a roof over her head. She cannot afford a new place. She should not have to deal with this. I ask, please, as a selfish request, to let me sleep peacefully at night, knowing that when I’m no longer around my city will fight for my wife, fight for my sister, fight for my friends.”
Smith told council he and his wife live at 141 Borden Avenue. In October, residents living at the apartment building said N13 notices were slipped under their doors, stating that they needed to leave due to impending renovations.
Council’s lengthy timeline to come up with a solution, he said, was a “stab in the back.”
“While the poorest of your constituents are suffering, it feels like a betrayal to say that we want to wait for other cities to figure it all out first so that we can copy their homework,” Smith said. “It feels like a betrayal that we worry about out corporate priority projects instead of your citizens going homeless right before you.”
Potential bylaw timeline
Staff presented four scenarios to council on Monday night, outlining how pushing the report forward could change what information they can provide.
The options included putting together reports in either March, April, May or June.
Staff did not recommend the March, April or May timelines due to a lack of information and the significant workload required to put the data together. They instead pushed for a report in June saying Hamilton’s bylaw would, at that point, be in effect for approximately five months, giving them better perspective on the opportunities, challenges and legal considerations.
The report, however, noted that none of the options allowed for a bylaw to be enacted before the end of the year.
“Even with an earlier reporting back on what staff learn from Hamilton, London and Toronto’s experiences, the critical path of implementation would not be fast-tracked,” the staff document said, adding that earliest date the bylaw could be enacted was January 2026. “This is due, in part, to the additional staff resources that are anticipated to be necessary for implementation and enforcement of a ‘renoviction’ bylaw which will need to be considered through a future budget process.”
“I don’t have time. My son doesn’t have time,” delegate Breanna Elaine Hill said in response to the proposed timeline. “I don’t have time until January 2026 because my hearing date might be in the middle of this year. This renoviction bylaw needs to be passed now.”
Council ultimately decided on the June option, but it didn’t sit well with everyone.
“I’m very frustrated. I think we’ve made a big mistake here,” Councillor Debbie Chapman said. “It could create havoc in many people’s lives unnecessarily.”
The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), a tenants’ rights advocacy group, said it understands procedures can take time, but worries more people will face homelessness as the process drags on.
“We need this sped up,” Ryan Murdock, secretary for Waterloo Region ACORN, said in an interview with CTV News. “We’re not asking for it to be rushed. We firmly feel that most of the concerns raised by the staff report could actually be addressed within that earlier timeframe.”
“The bylaw doesn’t come out of nowhere,” he added. “They could have contacted Hamilton to start asking even how Hamilton got the process started.”
What will be included in the report?
When the report comes back to council at the Planning and Strategic Initiatives committee meeting on June 2, it will feature information regarding:
- How municipalities are implementing and enforcing their bylaws
- Whether there have been any legal challenges
- Any interactions between bylaw and the Landlord Tenant Board processes
- The number and expertise of staff dedicated to the development, implementation and enforcement of the bylaws
- Associated costs
How municipalities plan to recover the costs of implementation and enforcement
