Ottawa city councillor puts forward motion to crack down on bad-faith renovictions
![Rent A for rent sign is displayed on a house in Ottawa on Friday, Oct. 14, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick](/content/dam/cp24/en/images/2023/8/11/rent-1-6515157-1692298644122.jpg)
An Ottawa city councillor wants the city to do more to prevent bad-faith evictions amid a soaring number of tenants being forced out of their homes.
- Sign up now for our daily CTV News Ottawa newsletters
- The information you need to know, sent directly to you: Download the CTV News App
Coun. Ariel Troster has put forward a motion to the city's planning and housing committee that if approved, would direct staff to explore the option of introducing an "anti-renovictions" bylaw that could prevent landlords from evicting tenants for renovations without proof the construction is significant.
In Ontario, the N13 eviction notice—also known as a renoviction—informs renters that they must vacate their home because the unit needs major renovations. Advocates say renovictions force a current tenant to move out of a unit to raise rent exponentially for a new tenant.
"One of the ways that we can stop the current crisis in our shelter system is to do everything we can to stop bad faith evictions," Troster told 580 CFRA's Ottawa at Work.
"It's pushing people out of the city and increasingly, it's driving low income seniors to our shelter system."
The city of Ottawa has seen an increase in N13 eviction notices handed to tenants. Statistics from the Ontario Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) show there was a 545 per cent increase in N13 notices filed in Ottawa between 2017 and 2022, and tripled between 2022 and 2023.
"I am quite sure a lot of these renovictions are being done in bad faith," Troster said.
Troster says she was inspired by the city of Hamilton, who this year became to first Ontario city to make it a requirement for landlords to provide a licence before making major renovations that require giving a tenant an N13 notice.
Troster says there is a need to introduce a similar policy in Ottawa.
"You do have to get permits, but you don’t have to show proof," she said.
"It's totally fine if you want to renovate your apartment and do some significant changes to the building. If that justifies asking the tenant to leave, then you need to prove it – I think that that's a pretty low bar."
Troster cites a Carleton University study that found that for every new unit of affordable housing built in Ottawa, 31 are being lost due to issues such as renovations or soaring rents.
Troster's motion will be discussed at the April 24 meeting of the city's planning and housing committee. The motion would direct staff to explore anticipated costs and report back to councillors.
City staff have considered a number of housing strategies to curb the impact of rent increases and prevent renovictions. A 2022 report said that an outright ban on all renovictions is not within the scope of the municipality's authority.
Ottawa's city council voted unanimously to declare housing and homelessness a crisis and an emergency in 2020.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6947618.1719864087!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
Flash flooding in B.C. Interior affects at least 20 homes, emergency officials say
At least 20 homes have been affected by flash flooding in the British Columbia Interior following heavy rains that forced the overnight closure of the Trans-Canada Highway near Kamloops.
Fire at gas metering station sparks grass fire that shut Alberta highway
Yellowhead County in west-central Alberta says a fire that prompted the closure of a major highway west of Edmonton involved a gas metering station.
These ultraprocessed foods may shorten your life, study says
Eating higher levels of ultraprocessed food may shorten lifespans by more than 10 per cent, according to a new, unpublished study of over 500,000 people whom researchers followed for nearly three decades.
Eddie Murphy is still stung by that David Spade joke on 'Saturday Night Live'
Eddie Murphy is reflecting on some of the “cheap shots” he feels he’s taken over the years.
If you qualify for this tax credit, you can expect a payment in your bank account this week
The next quarterly GST/HST tax credit payment is expected to go out this week, according to the Canada Revenue Agency.
Judge calls Jeffrey Epstein 'most infamous pedophile in American history' as he releases transcripts
A Florida judge released Monday afternoon the transcripts of a 2006 grand jury investigation that looked into sex trafficking and rape allegations made against the late millionaire and financier Jeffrey Epstein.
U.S. Supreme Court rules Trump has immunity for official, not private acts
The U.S. Supreme Court found on Monday that Donald Trump cannot be prosecuted for any actions that were within his constitutional powers as president, but can for private acts, in a landmark ruling recognizing for the first time any form of presidential immunity from prosecution.
This 12-year-old memorized the periodic table at age two. He's heading to NYU after finishing high school in just two years
Recent high school graduate Suborno Isaac Bari, 12, plans to start studying math and physics at New York University in the fall, but he’s already got his ambitious sights set on beginning a doctoral program.
Possible indecent gesture at Euro 2024 game under investigation
England star Jude Bellingham is being investigated by UEFA over a potentially offensive gesture made during a European Championship win against Slovakia.