Inaction by City Staff Left Rooming House Without Heat, Water and Power for 6 Months

The City of Toronto Ombudsman says bylaw officers and managers from the City’s Municipal Licensing and Standards division (MLS) were biased and acted in an arbitrary manner when they declined to help tenants who had their utilities shut off after a rooming house fire in September 2023.

“These tenants were among Toronto’s most vulnerable residents,” says Ombudsman Kwame Addo. “Yet, even before they visited the building, City staff chose not to act and enforce the existing bylaws, leaving the rooming house without heat, water and power for six months through the winter.”

Addo today released a report by Ombudsman Toronto’s Housing Unit titled, An Investigation into the City’s Response to a Vital Services Outage in a Multi-Tenant Home, detailing the results of the investigation into the failure. It found MLS staff made a number of decisions that worked to the advantage of the landlord and the disadvantage of the tenants:

• The bylaw officer did not visit the rooming house until two weeks after the first complaint and did not return calls.
• Due to a lack of training, the bylaw officer did not understand the landlord had a legal obligation to provide heat, electricity and water to tenants.
• MLS management provided inadequate oversight of the case.

“These tenants were among Toronto’s most vulnerable residents… City staff chose not to act and enforce the existing bylaws, leaving the rooming house without heat, water and power for six months through the winter.”

Ombudsman Kwame Addo

Addo says the City’s Housing Secretariat, through its Eviction Prevention In the Community program (EPIC) also failed the tenants:

• EPIC staff took more than a month to respond to requests for help.
• EPIC had no written policy to guide the delivery of emergency assistance.
• EPIC staff prioritized strict rules over principles, which was inconsistent with a human rights-based approach to housing.

Unable to endure the conditions through the winter, 10 out of 11 tenants were forced to move to more expensive, less stable housing.

“Staff at EPIC and MLS were unaware that the Toronto Housing Charter commits the City to taking a human rights-based approach to housing and helping the most vulnerable,” says Addo. “Had City staff received adequate training, I believe they would have acted with greater urgency to assist the tenants.”

The City has accepted all 27 of the recommendations made by the Ombudsman in his report. These include recommendations that:

• MLS should review how it enforces the standards for rental housing and develop a process for responding to the loss of heat, power and water.
• MLS should improve the training and supervision of bylaw officers.
• The City’s Housing Secretariat should develop guidelines on exercising discretion in the delivery of emergency assistance through EPIC.
• Staff at EPIC and MLS engaged in housing should be trained on the requirements of the Toronto Housing Charter.

Ombudsman Toronto will be following up to ensure the recommendations are implemented.

The general rules regarding rooming houses have changed in Toronto since the fire in the fall of 2023. The City has legalized rooming houses throughout Toronto, and adopted a new framework for multi-tenant housing that it says will increase the safety of tenants.

Media requests

For more information or to arrange interviews, please contact:

Melissa Yu Vanti
Ombudsman Toronto
Office: 416-338-3023
Cell: 437-772-6176
Email: melissa.yuvanti@toronto.ca

About Ombudsman Toronto

Ombudsman Toronto listens to and investigates people’s complaints and concerns about City of Toronto administration and the fairness of City services. We are a free and impartial office that operates independently from the City, holding it accountable to the people it serves.

Learn more about Ombudsman Toronto’s Housing Unit.