Bill 244 explained in plain English
No COVID-19 Evictions Act, 2021
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, the No COVID-19 Evictions Act, 2021, amends the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, to prevent evictions and enforcement of eviction orders during a defined COVID-19 pandemic period, with an exception for health and safety reasons.
Bill 244, the No COVID-19 Evictions Act, 2021, amends the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, to place restrictions on evictions and the enforcement of eviction orders during a defined 'COVID-19 pandemic period'. It states that during this period, the Landlord and Tenant Board (the Board) cannot issue eviction orders, and the Superior Court of Justice cannot issue writs of possession. Furthermore, no one can attend a residential property to enforce such an order or writ. There is an exception: these restrictions do not apply if the Board or the Superior Court determines that an order or writ is necessary for health and safety reasons. The 'COVID-19 pandemic period' is defined as starting when the Act comes into force and ending 12 months after the Chief Medical Officer of Health declares in writing that the pandemic has ended in Ontario. The Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.
- Amends the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, by adding a new section (section 7.1).
- Prohibits the Landlord and Tenant Board from issuing eviction orders during the COVID-19 pandemic period.
- Prohibits the Superior Court of Justice from issuing writs of possession that remove a person from their residence during the COVID-19 pandemic period.
- Prevents anyone from attending a residential property to enforce an eviction order or a writ of possession during the COVID-19 pandemic period.
- Allows for exceptions to these prohibitions if the eviction order or writ of possession is deemed necessary for health and safety purposes by the Board or the Superior Court.
- Defines the 'COVID-19 pandemic period' as the time from when the Act comes into force until 12 months after the Chief Medical Officer of Health declares the pandemic over in Ontario.
- Requires the Chief Medical Officer of Health to make a written declaration when they believe the risks associated with COVID-19 in Ontario have decreased to the point that the pandemic has ended.
- Tenants in Ontario
- Landlords in Ontario
- The Landlord and Tenant Board
- The Superior Court of Justice
- The Chief Medical Officer of Health
- Tenants have a right not to be evicted or removed from their residence through an order or writ of possession during the COVID-19 pandemic period, unless for health and safety reasons.
- Landlords are restricted from obtaining or enforcing eviction orders or writs of possession during the COVID-19 pandemic period, unless for health and safety reasons.
- The Landlord and Tenant Board has a duty not to issue eviction orders during the COVID-19 pandemic period, unless for health and safety reasons.
- The Superior Court of Justice has a duty not to issue writs of possession that remove a person from their residence during the COVID-19 pandemic period, unless for health and safety reasons.
- The Chief Medical Officer of Health has the authority and responsibility to declare when the COVID-19 pandemic has ended in Ontario for the purposes of this Act.
- The Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.
- The 'COVID-19 pandemic period' begins on the day this Act comes into force.
- The 'COVID-19 pandemic period' ends 12 months after the Chief Medical Officer of Health makes a written declaration that the COVID-19 pandemic has ended in Ontario.
- The Bill does not specify penalties for contravening the new provisions related to evictions and writs of possession during the COVID-19 pandemic period.
- The Bill does not specify what constitutes a 'health and safety purpose' that would allow for an eviction order or writ of possession to be issued or enforced.
- The Bill does not specify the process or criteria the Chief Medical Officer of Health must follow when making the declaration that the COVID-19 pandemic has ended.
- The Bill does not specify what happens if Royal Assent is not granted.
Adds a new section (7.1) that restricts the ability to issue and enforce eviction orders and writs of possession during a defined COVID-19 pandemic period, with specific exceptions.
Source: Section 1
Establishes a definition for the 'COVID-19 pandemic period' which determines the duration of the eviction restrictions.
Source: Section 7.1 (4)
Provides the definition of 'Chief Medical Officer of Health' for the purposes of this Bill.
Source: Section 7.1 (3)
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.
How this data is sourced