City staff say City of Ottawa does not need its own renoviction bylaw, but councillor disagrees

Ottawa City Hall is seen in this undated file photo. (CTV News Ottawa)

An Ottawa councillor is calling on city staff to present a draft renoviction bylaw to committee in June, but staff say recent amendments to the Residential Tenancies Act to enhance tenant protections “substantially address the policy objectives” that would be covered in a municipal law.

Council initially directed staff in May 2024 to assess the feasibility of a municipal renoviction bylaw.

Staff said in January 2025 that its feasibility assessment did not support proceeding with the development of a Rental Renovation Licence Bylaw, noting landlord and tenant relations are an area of provincial jurisdictions. Staff said, “municipalities do not have the authority to stop evictions from happening.”

In a report for the planning and housing committee meeting on June 3, staff said amendments introduced to the Residential Tenancies Act in April “enhanced tenant protections, including strengthened requirements related to renovation or repair-related evictions.”

“Staff have reviewed the newly enacted provincial framework and related municipal approaches in Ontario and have determined that the provincial amendments substantially address the policy objectives that were intended to be advanced through a municipal licensing framework,” staff said.

“Research indicates that standalone municipal licensing regimes have seen limited uptake in other municipalities, and that proceeding with a municipal framework concurrently with the province’s changes may result in overlapping regulatory requirements and administrative complexity.”

According to the report, provisions coming into force under the Residential Tenancies Act in September include:

Renovation/repair eviction transparency requirements:

• Landlord must provide estimated completion date
• Must update tenants on progress
• Must notify when unit is ready for re-occupancy
• Must provide at least 60 days for tenant to reoccupy if exercising right of return

Right of refusal enforcement mechanism

• Failure to comply with s.3 is deemed a failure to provide right of first refusal
• Allows previously dismissed applications (pre–in-force date) to be refiled.

Other provisions not yet in force

• s.2: Requirement for qualified person report to support renovation/repair evictions.
• s.4: Presumption of bad faith for personal-use evictions if occupation does not occur within a prescribed period.
• s.7: Requirement that the Landlord and Tenant Board consider (but not be bound by) the qualified person report.
• s.11: Regulation-making authority for right of first refusal terms and personal-use eviction timelines.

“With the proclamation of these amendments, staff are of the view that the legislative gap identified in the original feasibility assessment has now been substantively addressed by the province, and that the new provisions strengthen tenant protections within the provincial legislative framework in a manner consistent with the policy objectives underlying Council’s direction,” staff said.

Councillor “demanding” city staff release draft bylaw

Somerset Coun. Ariel Troster says a renovictions bylaw is still needed in Ottawa, saying the provincial changes do not cover mandatory tenant education and a requirement to obtain a licence before evicting tenants for a renovation.

“There were some changes that are nominally positive that were made by the province to the Residential Tenancies Act that could have some impact on these evictions,” Troster told Newstalk 580 CFRA’s Ottawa Now with Kristy Cameron.

“There’s a requirement for notice, and there’s a requirement to allow the attendant to move back in afterwards if they want to, but there’s nothing in there that’s preventative, and that’s what this bylaw would do, is require a landlord to get a license to prove that they’re doing renovations that justify the eviction.”

Troster says it should be councillors that “ultimately” decide whether the City of Ottawa should enact a renovictions bylaw.

The councillor plans to introduce a motion at the planning and housing committee meeting next week to direct staff to table a draft renoviction bylaw for debate at the June 17 committee meeting.

In the report for the planning and housing committee, staff do say council can direct staff to proceed with finalizing the development of a municipal bylaw or rely on the “strengthened provincial framework.”

How many renovictions in Ottawa?

The report outlines the number of N13 notices filed with the Landlord and Tenant Board for evictions or repairs, but staff say the data does not represent “the full extent of evictions” because the data wouldn’t capture data if an N13 eviction notice is never issued to a tenant.

According to the report for the planning and housing committee, an average of 31 N13 notices have been filed a year with the Landlord and Tenant Board related to evictions for renovations or repairs since 2022 in Ottawa.

Between 2022 and 2024, a total of 14 T5 applications were associated with N13 notices or with allegations that tenants were denied the right to return following renovations or repairs.

City of Ottawa staff identified approximately 230 rental units across 40 addresses where evictions for renovations or repairs may have or have occurred since 2020 without filings with the Landlord and Tenant Board, according to the report.

“Most of these reported instances were associated with two buildings, including one instance where more than 120 N13 notices were issued for a single building that was not filed with the Landlord and Tenant Board,” staff said.

Toronto, London and Hamilton have renoviction bylaws in effect.

According to City of Ottawa staff, Toronto received six applications under the bylaw as of December 2025, while London and Hamilton each received seven applications last year.

“The low number of applications may suggest that licensing regimes have limited effectiveness in addressing ‘renovictions,’” staff said.

The report notes the number of N13 eviction notices in Hamilton dropped from 119 in 2024 to 23 in 2025, the first year of the bylaw.

“It does not distinguish how many of these N13 notices were specifically related to renovations or repairs, as opposed to demolitions or conversions.”

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