Bill 53 explained in plain English
Escaping Domestic Violence Act, 2010
Ontario legislature bill summary, status, timeline, sponsor, votes, and official sources.
At a glance
Official Legislative Assembly of Ontario snapshot for 39th Parliament, 2nd Session. Representative vote breakdowns appear when the Assembly publishes an Ayes and Nays page for the bill.
Our plain-language take, written for civic education.
Source: By PoliticalData.ca
This bill amends the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 to allow victims of domestic violence to end their tenancy with a 28-day notice period, under specific conditions.
The bill, titled the Escaping Domestic Violence Act, 2010, amends the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006. It allows a tenant who is a victim of domestic violence, or whose dependent child is a victim, to end their tenancy earlier than usual. This is done by providing a notice of at least 28 days. The notice must be given on the last day of the month following the month in which notice is given. To use this provision, the tenant must provide a copy of a court order or a police investigation letter confirming the domestic violence. The landlord must keep the information in the notice confidential. The bill also clarifies that landlords can apply rent deposits to the final rent period and that tenants are responsible for rent during the notice period. Additionally, it amends section 233 of the Residential Tenancies Act to include providing false or misleading information for a domestic violence notice as an offence.
- Amends the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 to allow tenants who are victims of domestic violence, or whose dependent children are victims, to terminate their tenancy with shorter notice than normally required.
- Establishes new rules for providing notice to terminate a tenancy in cases of domestic violence.
- Specifies the types of documentation required to support a domestic violence-related tenancy termination notice.
- Includes provisions for the confidentiality of information provided in such notices.
- Adds providing false or misleading information for a domestic violence notice as an offence under the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006.
- Tenants who are victims of domestic violence or whose dependent children are victims of domestic violence.
- Landlords.
- The enforcement of the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006.
- Tenants who are victims of domestic violence have the right to terminate their tenancy with a minimum of 28 days' notice under specific conditions.
- Landlords have an obligation to keep confidential any information included in a domestic violence termination notice from a tenant.
- Tenants remain responsible for paying rent during the notice period for termination due to domestic violence.
- Landlords may apply rent deposits to the final rent period for a tenant terminating due to domestic violence.
- The Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.
- Rent deposits may be applied to the last rent period before a tenancy terminates for victims of domestic violence.
- Tenants are responsible for paying rent during the notice period when terminating a tenancy due to domestic violence.
- Providing false or misleading information for the purposes of giving notice under section 47.1 of the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, is an offence.
- The bill does not specify what constitutes 'domestic violence' beyond what is defined in subsection 47.1(6), which references court orders and specific acts or omissions.
- The bill does not detail the process for a landlord to verify the authenticity of the provided documentation.
- The bill does not specify who will be responsible for enforcing the confidentiality of information provided in the notice.
- The bill does not specify the exact penalty for providing false or misleading information under section 233 (d.1) of the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006.
This bill adds a new section (47.1) that allows a tenant, who is a victim of domestic violence or whose dependent child is a victim, to terminate a monthly, yearly, or fixed-term tenancy with at least 28 days' notice. This notice period can be shorter than the periods normally set out in the Act. It also adds clause (d.1) to section 233, making it an offence to provide false or misleading information when giving notice under the new section 47.1.
Source: Section 1 and Section 2 of Bill 53
Generated using AI from official bill text. Not legal advice. It is written by PoliticalData.ca for civic education, automatically checked and spot-reviewed before publishing.
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Vote Summary
This bill is still active. We only show vote counts after the legislature publishes a recorded division.
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Official sources
Status, sponsor, votes, and timeline on this page are drawn from these official legislative sources and public records. Each summary above is attributed to its own source.
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