Will Ottawa get a renoviction bylaw afterall?

In a surprising move, the answer appears to be yes

Let’s start at the beginning: In a report last week, city staff recommended against implementing a renoviction bylaw because of its cost, provincial law covering some of the same ground and a desire to wait and see how other cities fare, reported CBC

It came after city council asked staff to review it in May 2024 after Hamilton, London, and Toronto enacted a similar bylaw. The bylaw's intent is to prevent landlords from evicting tenants to do construction and then renting the property to someone else for more money after the work is completed. 

A surprising turn of events: During Ottawa‘s planning committee meeting on Jan. 15, councillors disagreed with city staff's suggestion — a rarity at city hall — and asked them to go back to the drawing board to write one.  

The reversal came after Somerset Ward Coun. Ariel Troster brought forward a motion to launch a bylaw review to develop a renoviction bylaw. It was supported by all but one councillor. 

Kitchissippi Coun. Jeff Leiper, who also chairs the city’s planning committee, was among those in support and said such a bylaw would help his ward's residents. 

  • “Our gut sense is that, even though staff can't tell us that a lot of these renovictions are spurious, it is nonetheless a problem in Ottawa and that we want to address it. When I take a look around my own neighbourhood, the use of N-13s to evict people out of their buildings is relatively common,” Leiper told CBC

Other alternatives: Issues between landlords and tenants fall on the province, not municipalities, which is part of the reason why city staff were opposed. There could be similar legislation that could come soon from the upper level of government and would be even more enforceable. 

What planning committee decided this week will give the staff at least three months to consult with its provincial counterparts. It will then go back to the council in the second quarter of this year. 

  • “We have identified housing and homelessness as one of our council priorities. At the end of the day, if we don’t solve this problem, it’s going to cost the city more. My entire goal in trying to advance a solution to renovictions is to turn off the tap at one source,” said Troster, according to the Ottawa Citizen

By the numbers: According to a recent study by Carleton University professor Steve Pomeroy, for every new unit of affordable housing built in Ottawa, 31 units are being lost due to rising rents, renovations or demolition, reported the Ottawa Citizen

The Ottawa Mission has stated that renovictions are a huge reason behind the surge of homelessness in Ottawa. New statistics released by the City of Ottawa state that over 3,000 Ottawa residents sleep on the streets or in shelters, according to City News. For comparison, Ottawa had 2,612 homeless people in 2021.