George Brown College president Gervan Fearon is one of eight Toronto post-secondary school presidents to have signed a letter calling for city councillors to allow licensed multi-tenant houses across Toronto, but at a meeting on Monday, October 4, Mayor John Tory proposed a deferral on the legalization of rooming houses in Toronto, with staff expecting to report back in 2022.
Multi-tenant houses, commonly known as rooming houses, provide accommodation for four or more people with a shared kitchen and/or washroom.
According to a report made by CBC News, under the deferred proposal, multi-tenant houses would be limited to six dwelling rooms in most residential neighbourhoods and their landlords would have to be licensed. Units would include parking and washroom requirements based on the number of rooms, and tenant support would be offered in a bid to maintain affordable housing and avoid displacing existing renters.
Following the initial deferral of the decision on July 14 , the presidents of Toronto’s four universities and four colleges, including Fearon, pushed to pass this proposal, stating in their letter that the decision would “significantly enhance safety and affordability” of student housing, according to a report from Toronto News.
The same report noted that the presidents said in a September 24 letter that “implementing a city-wide regulatory framework and enforcement regime that protects tenants in these arrangements is critical to ensuring vulnerable people are afforded the same rights as other renters.”
Along with President Fearon, the letter was also signed by the presidents of Ryerson University, University of Toronto, OCAD University, York University, Centennial College, Humber College and Seneca College.
As stated by Toronto News, Mayor John Tory previously postponed the vote in July in hopes that opposition to the proposal would decrease in the fall. This, however, was not the case.
Tory’s proposal to defer the vote on October 4 was passed by vote of 17 to eight.
“Council is not united on this issue and we shouldn’t push through a framework that is so divisive. To me, that’s an indication that more work needs to be done on it to get it right,” said Tory according to a report from CBC News.
Opposition to this plan comes from concerns over issues such as parking and protecting neighbourhoods that are zoned for single-family dwellings. Some councillors representing suburban wards say that there hasn’t been enough public consultation to come to a decision.
As maintained in the same report, Tory assured that progress is being made slowly.
“Doing anything other than moving forward with this is being willfully blind to the evidence and ignoring the advice that we’ve heard from our staff that we’ll be leaving people in peril,” said Councillor Josh Matlow.
For now, the city plans to conduct a public consultation with residents that could be affected by multi-tenant housing permissions as well as prepare a communications plan to ensure a clear understanding of the proposal. Staff will also create an enforcement plan to hold landlords accountable and develop a reporting plan to ensure council is updated on the progress of work done by staff.
Staff plan to report back in 2022.
