KITCHENER INTRODUCES RENOVICTION BY-LAW
On June 23, 2025, Kitchener city council directed their staff to draft a renoviction by-law. Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) delegates pushed the council to end bad faith evictions, or renovictions. These are due to a landlord’s desire or need to renovate, thus leading to residents moving out of apartments they can afford.
Similar bylaws were introduced in London and Hamilton this year to protect residents after being served a N13 eviction notice, given when a landlord intends to renovate or demolish a rental property, or convert it to a non-residential use.
“The Region of Waterloo’s Building Better Futures Plan supports the creation and preservation of affordable housing, and we work collaboratively with all levels of government to advance affordable housing in our community,” Scott Cressman, Senior Communications Advisor for the Region of Waterloo, said.
The London by-law came into effect in March 2025. It requires landlords to apply for a license within one week of serving a tenant with a N13 eviction notice.
The bylaw forces landlords to submit a report that is certified by an engineer or architect proving the renovations need the unit to be temporarily vacant. The City of Kitchener council is considering a similar format.
In January 2024, Hamilton became the first city in Ontario to adopt a renoviction by-law. Setting the precedent for the Kitchener bylaw, it will require a landlord to apply for city renovation license within seven days of issuing a N13 eviction notice. The license fee will be $715 per unit, and $125 to renew per annum.
“In Ontario, tenant displacement and eviction protection policies fall within the jurisdiction of the province or local area municipalities. This includes rental replacement by-laws related to the renovation, conversion and demolition of rental housing,” Cressman said.
Bill 97, The Helping Homebuyers, Protecting Tenants Act, Subsection 50 [3] was re-anacted so that landlords are to give notices of a termination of tenancy when they require the possession of a rental unit to do repairs or renovations. This, however, has left many tenants in the Waterloo Region still vulnerable to renoviction.
“This was a provincial law that happened, made it so basically any new builds or renovated builds had no cap on rent that could be charged. And then certain amoral landlords saw that as an opportunity to falsify renovations or minor improvements or whatnot, to get tenants out,” Linda Vos, a leader for the 250 Frederick ACORN tenant union, said.
Vos became involved with ACORN in November of 2023 when one of her neighbours at 250 Frederick St. reached out to ACORN with concerns about their new landlord. ACORN helped them thoroughly when news of the landlord’s history of renoviction spread. Willing tenants of the building were signed up for mailing lists pertinent to their situation, and planned marches to City Hall immediately.
“We are hoping that Kitchener and Waterloo both come back with in their drafts that have these strong renoviction protections for tenants, ACORN has been fighting for specific features in the renovation by laws for years now,” Vos said.
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