Bill 205 explained in plain English
Protecting Renters from Illegal Evictions Act, 2020
Ontario legislature bill summary, status, timeline, sponsor, votes, and official sources.
At a glance
Official Legislative Assembly of Ontario snapshot for 42nd Parliament, 1st 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 Ontario's Residential Tenancies Act and other laws to enhance protections for renters facing 'no-fault' evictions, including mandatory legal aid and increased penalties for landlords acting in bad faith.
Bill 205, the Protecting Renters from Illegal Evictions Act, 2020, makes several changes to the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, and other related legislation. These changes focus on 'no-fault' evictions, which are evictions not related to the tenant's behaviour, such as evictions for the landlord's personal use, renovation, or demolition. The bill aims to strengthen protections for renters in these situations by requiring specific forms for eviction notices, mandating the provision of supporting documents like renovation permits, expanding remedies for bad-faith evictions, and ensuring legal representation for affected tenants. It also introduces reporting requirements for the Landlord and Tenant Board and tasks the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing with verifying the good faith of eviction notices.
- Amends the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, to require landlords to use specific, approved forms for notices of termination related to personal occupation, demolition, conversion, or repairs.
- Changes various timeframes related to 'no-fault' eviction notices and applications to the Landlord and Tenant Board.
- Requires landlords to provide tenants with copies of necessary approvals for demolition, conversion, or extensive repairs when issuing a notice for these reasons.
- Expands the remedies available to the Landlord and Tenant Board when a landlord is found to have issued a 'no-fault' eviction notice in bad faith, including mandatory monetary penalties.
- Establishes a registry for applications related to 'no-fault' evictions and requires the Landlord and Tenant Board to report on these applications annually.
- Amends the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing Act to require the Minister to take measures to confirm the good faith of 'no-fault' eviction notices and to notify former tenants if notices are presumed to be in bad faith.
- Amends legislation governing legal aid to mandate the provision of legal representation before the Landlord and Tenant Board for individuals who have received 'no-fault' eviction notices.
- Changes the duration of the landlord's intended occupation period to two years for certain eviction notices.
- Introduces a minimum notice period of six months for certain types of evictions.
- Tenants in Ontario
- Landlords in Ontario
- The Landlord and Tenant Board
- The Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing
- Legal Aid Ontario (The Corporation)
- Landlords must use specific forms for certain notices of termination.
- Landlords must provide copies of necessary approvals for evictions based on repair, renovation, demolition, or conversion.
- The Landlord and Tenant Board must impose monetary penalties in cases of bad-faith evictions.
- The Landlord and Tenant Board must maintain a registry and publish annual reports on specific eviction applications.
- The Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing must take measures to confirm the good faith of certain eviction notices.
- Legal Aid Ontario must provide legal representation to individuals receiving 'no-fault' eviction notices, without standard eligibility requirements or cost contributions.
- Tenants have the right to receive legal representation for 'no-fault' evictions.
- The duration of a landlord's intended personal occupation for eviction purposes is extended to two years.
- The Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent, except for Section 10.
- Section 10 comes into force on the later of the day section 3 of Schedule 15 to the Smarter and Stronger Justice Act, 2020 comes into force and the day this Act receives Royal Assent.
- Landlords found to have engaged in bad-faith conduct may be ordered to pay a sum equivalent to the greater of 12 months of the former tenant's rent and $35,000.
- Legal Aid Ontario is mandated to provide legal representation, which may have financial implications for the corporation.
- The requirement for landlords to provide additional documentation for certain evictions may incur costs for obtaining these approvals.
- Failure to use approved forms for eviction notices means the notice is considered not given, and the Landlord and Tenant Board must refuse an application for termination and eviction.
- The Landlord and Tenant Board shall order landlords to pay a substantial monetary penalty for bad-faith evictions.
- The Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing may notify former tenants of presumptive bad-faith eviction notices, potentially leading to further applications and remedies under Section 57 of the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006.
- The specific measures the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing will take to confirm the good faith of eviction notices are not detailed.
- The exact timing of certain provisions coming into effect depends on the Royal Assent date of Bill 205 and the commencement date of provisions in the Protecting Tenants and Strengthening Community Housing Act, 2020.
- The definition of 'extensive' repairs or renovations requiring vacant possession is not explicitly defined.
- The bill does not specify what constitutes 'presumptively given in bad faith' beyond what is implied by Section 57 of the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006.
Requires landlords to use specific forms for certain eviction notices, mandates the provision of supporting documents for evictions related to repairs, demolition, or conversion, and expands remedies for bad-faith evictions, including monetary penalties. It also changes timeframes related to these notices and establishes a registry and reporting for such applications.
Source: Sections 43, 48, 49, 50, 52, 57, 179.1
Requires the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing to investigate and confirm the good faith of 'no-fault' eviction notices and to inform former tenants if such notices are presumed to be in bad faith.
Source: Section 4
Mandates the provision of legal aid services for legal representation before the Landlord and Tenant Board for individuals who have received a notice to terminate their tenancy for reasons unrelated to their conduct, removing standard eligibility criteria and cost contributions.
Source: Section 13
Mandates the provision of legal aid services for legal representation before the Landlord and Tenant Board for individuals who have received a notice to terminate their tenancy for reasons unrelated to their conduct, removing standard eligibility criteria and cost contributions.
Source: Section 4.1
Certain provisions of this Act related to landlord and tenant remedies may be repealed or amended based on when Bill 205 receives Royal Assent.
Source: Sections 7(3)-(8)
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.
Official textProcess Snapshot
Vote Summary
This bill does not have a published recorded division in the current official sources, so representative-by-representative vote counts are not shown.
No published representative vote breakdown
The current official sources do not publish a recorded division breakdown for this bill, so there is no representative-by-representative table to show.
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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