Council backs renoviction licences and 7,000 rental homes: what it means for your building

What it means in dollars and units

Toronto's registered apartment stock is 328,273 units in 3,611 buildings. The 7,000 rental homes the City wants to approve would add roughly two per cent to that total. The affordable share works out to one home in five. Applied to the larger 20,000-home target the mayor's office cites, the same share would be about 4,000 affordable homes, as an example of the scale.

If you rent

The part that touches tenants soonest is the renovation licence. Council approved a bylaw that puts a licensing step between a landlord and a renovation that requires an empty unit. It is aimed at evictions done in bad faith under the cover of repairs.

This matters because the stock is old. The median apartment building in our data was finished in 1962 — 64 years ago. Older buildings need real work, and the bylaw is meant to separate genuine repairs from pressure to leave.

The City says details on the new requirements will be posted later.

If you own or manage a building

Two changes affect plans already on the table. First, the licence process will add paperwork before vacant-unit renovations start. Landlords are being told to prepare for the switch.

Second, mid-rise heights and densities are now permitted as-of-right along avenues and in designated mixed-use areas, which removes a rezoning step on some sites.

What to do next

• Renters: read the City's renovation licence page before signing anything about a move-out.
• Owners and managers: check the call for applications for the rental incentive programs, and the as-of-right zoning rules for your site.

Full details are on the City of Toronto website.