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OHRC Submission on Bill 60 Regarding Proposed Amendments to the Rules Related to Tenants Raising New Issues at a Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) Rent Arrears Hearing

Resource Type
submission

November 21, 2025


Context

The Ontario Government has introduced Bill 60: Fighting Delays, Building Faster Act, 2025 and its Schedule 12, which proposes amendments to the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 (RTA). The government is seeking feedback on four of the thirteen proposed housing regulatory changes: [1]

  1.  Seeking Feedback on Proposed Amendments to the Rules Related to Tenants Raising New Issues at a Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) Rent Arrears Hearing (due November 22, 2025)
     
  2. Seeking Feedback on Proposed Amendment to the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 (RTA) to Shorten the Period of Time  Available to Request a Review of an LTB order (due November 22, 2025)
     
  3. Seeking Feedback on Proposed Amendments to Shorten the Rent Arrears Eviction Notice Period (due November 22, 2025)
     
  4. Seeking Feedback on Proposed Amendments to the Compensation Requirements for Landlord's Own Use Evictions (due November 22, 2025)

While the Government of Ontario has allowed submissions for some proposed changes, Bill 60 is advancing to its third reading on November 24, 2025.

The OHRC encourages the government to use a human rights based approach to assess how the proposed housing amendments may disproportionately affect tenants and landlords from people historically affected under Code-grounds, including persons with disabilities, Indigenous tenants, racialized communities, lone parents, newcomers with language barriers, and public assistance recipients.


Housing and human rights

Under the Code, every person has a right to equal treatment with respect to the occupancy of accommodation, without discrimination because of race, ancestry, place of origin, colour, ethnic origin, citizenship, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, marital status, family status, disability or the receipt of public assistance[2]. The Code applies to processes for choosing or evicting tenants, occupancy rules and regulations, repairs, the use of related services and facilities, and the general enjoyment of the premises.

 In its work on housing, the OHRC has repeatedly heard that people who identify with certain Code grounds or combinations of grounds are more likely to be tenants, and are more likely to experience poverty or to have lower average incomes than the general population. The Code may be found to apply when low income is connected to grounds such as age, ancestry, disability, ethnic origin, family status, gender identity, place of origin, race, or being in receipt of public assistance.[3]

Housing is essential to human dignity. The Code, which holds primacy over provincial legislation in Ontario protects the dignity of every person by providing for equal rights and opportunities and freedom from discrimination. Housing has been recognized as a human right in international law and Canadian obligations, including the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR)[4]. Many groups identified under the Code are more likely to face precarious housing, including:

  • Persons with disabilities, including those with mental health and addictions disabilities who may face accessibility challenges and disproportionate eviction risks.
  • Public assistance recipients, who may struggle to meet tight rental deadlines due to administrative delays, are more likely to be denied housing, or only offered housing at higher rents.
  • Racialized individuals and newcomers, who may face systemic bias or discrimination in landlord-tenant interactions.
  • Indigenous peoples, who may encounter culturally insensitive policies and fewer community supports.
  • Students and younger adults, often with lower income and precarious tenancy arrangements.
  • Older adults and seniors, who may have limited income and mobility constraints.
  • Women who may experience sexual harassment in housing.
  • Lone-parent families, who often carry additional caregiving responsibilities that affect housing stability.

Regulatory changes that disproportionately affect these groups, directly or indirectly, may create or contribute to systemic discrimination.

The Landlord Tenant Board falls under the Code as a body providing services that affect housing. It is also required to consider and apply the Code when making decisions.[5] Government legislators, policymakers, planners, program designers, tribunals, and courts must ensure that their activities, strategies, and decisions address discrimination in housing. Organizational rules, policies, procedures, decision-taking processes, and culture should not create barriers or have discriminatory effects.


OHRC’s work in Housing

In addition to the OHRC’s policy on human rights and rental housing, the OHRC has previously provided commentary and guidance on housing issues and proposed changes in Ontario:

  1. On May 1, 2024, the OHRC issued a letter to the City of Kingston regarding encampments.
  2. On March 28, 2024, the OHRC issued a letter to the Town of Cobourg on their Emergency Care Establishment By-Law.
  3. On May 6, 2023, the OHRC provided a submission on: Proposed amendments to clarify and enhance rental rules related to air conditioning.
  4. On February 22, 2023, the OHRC issued a letter to the Town of Aurora on proposed emergency and transitional housing project and on March 21, 2025, the OHRC issued a follow-up letter to the Town of Aurora on proposed emergency and transitional housing project at 14452 Yonge St.
  5. On February 3, 2023, the OHRC issued a statement: OHRC statement on human rights and access to cold weather services.
  6. On November 14 and December 30, 2022, the OHRC filed submissions on several housing regulatory changes proposed in the More Homes Built Faster Act, 2022 (Bill 23).
  7. On August 19, 2022, the OHRC issued a statement: OHRC statement on human rights, extreme heat waves and air conditioning that called on the Government of Ontario to include air conditioning as a vital service, as with the provision of heat, under RTA regulations and to establish a provincial maximum temperature to protect the health and safety of vulnerable tenants.
  8. On February 17, 2022, the OHRC issued a letter and submission to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing on proposed regulatory amendments under the Housing Services Act.


OHRC Submissions

https://www.regulatoryregistry.gov.on.ca/proposal/52055

The Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) welcomes the opportunity to provide this submission on the proposed legislative amendments to the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 (RTA) regarding tenants raising new issues such as discrimination, harassment, accommodation needs or repair concerns, at a Landlord Tenant Board (LTB) Rent Arrears Hearing.

The proposed amendment, if enacted as drafted, may significantly impede tenants’ ability to assert their human rights at critical moments that may affect their security of tenure. Given the LTB’s Code and statutory obligations, processes must be kept to safeguard access to housing free from discrimination. The OHRC encourages the Government of Ontario to reconsider the proposed amendment and adopt a human rights-based approach for reform of any LTB processes and procedures, particularly related to hearings.


Background / Proposal

Currently, tenants can raise new issues at rent arrears hearing without advance notice, provided they give a satisfactory reason. Hearings may be adjourned to accommodate these new issues. This flexibility is crucial, as many tenants identify legal issues, including discrimination, harassment, or accommodation needs, on or before the day of their hearing, for example, as a result of lack of timely access to legal advice.

Bill 60 proposes to remove this flexibility, requiring prior notice for all new issues and making the ability to raise new issues on conditional on payment of 50% of rent arrears. 


Concerns regarding proposed changes

While the government’s rationale is to reduce delays and financial losses due to an adjournment for landlords, the change could:

  • undermine procedural fairness,
  • limit LTB’s ability to address Code-related issues, and
  • disproportionately impact vulnerable tenants. 

The LTB has itself recognized that Code issues may first arise during eviction proceedings, and adjudicators should consider whether conduct is caused by a Code protected characteristic and whether accommodation is required.[6]It cannot fulfill this duty if the law prohibits tenants from raising these issues at the hearing stage. Tenants may only identify these issues close to or during the hearing because of lack of access to legal advice.

  1. Erosion of procedural fairness
  • Tenants may be prevented from explaining the full circumstances surrounding arrears, including unforeseen financial hardship, illness, or caregiving obligations.
  • Defences to evictions that are based on Code-related issues (e.g., discrimination, harassment, failure to accommodate) could be obstructed, limiting access to justice. For example, a tenant subject to an eviction application for arrears of rent may assert that the arrears arose from a temporary inability to work due to pregnancy-related complications, and that the landlord’s refusal to consider a reasonable repayment plan may constitute discrimination on the basis of sex (pregnancy) under the Code.
  • The LTB’s discretion to consider human rights issues is curtailed, potentially leading to decisions that disproportionately favour landlords.
  1. Discriminatory and disproportionate impacts on certain people falling under Code grounds
  • Persons with mental health or physical disabilities may lack pre-hearing support or advocacy resources.
  • Newcomers and tenants with language barriers may be unable to submit evidence or understand procedural requirements in time.
  • Indigenous tenants may face systemic disadvantages, including limited access to legal counsel or culturally appropriate services.
  • Removal of flexibility further entrenches systemic disadvantage by disproportionately affecting those who already face barriers in housing and legal processes.
  1. Barriers to raising human rights issues at the LTB
  • Limiting the Board’s ability to consider discrimination, medical barriers, or failures to accommodate during a hearing removes essential factors from the mandatory fairness review under s. 83 of the RTA. Section 83 requires the LTB to weigh “all the circumstances”[7] before granting eviction. Excluding a tenant’s ability to raise these concerns narrows the balancing test to technical compliance and undermines RTA and Code obligations.
  1. Increased likelihood of eviction and homelessness
  • Limiting tenant flexibility could lead to avoidable evictions despite legitimate defences to evictions based on Code-related issues (e.g. discrimination, harassment, failure to accommodate).
  • Vulnerable populations may experience heightened housing precarity, including challenges in relocating, and securing alternate accommodations.

The LTB is currently scheduling L1/L9 applications within approximately three months and issuing most decisions within 30 days. Faster processing is helpful but should not negate the need for fair, accessible, and substantially equitable procedures. Issues raised during hearings often reflect disability, language barriers, trauma, or lack of representation, and are not in bad faith (i.e. intentionally evading paying rent).


The OHRC’s recommendations

To ensure rent arrears hearings remain flexible to address discrimination, harassment, and failure to accommodate tied to arrears or eviction risk, the OHRC recommends the Government of Ontario:

  1. Maintain right of tenants to raise new issues at rent arrears hearings.
  2. Ensure that any procedural reform explicitly consider their impact on obligations under the Ontario Human Rights Code. The Commission encourages that a human rights based approach is applied to assess direct and indirect impact before implementing Bill 60 changes.
  3. Provide tenants with greater access to legal assistance with LTB processes.
  4. Ensure tenants have access to interpretation services and can participate meaningfully and understand the proceeding.
  5. Provide LTB adjudicators with the powers to account for special circumstances impacting the tenant household or their ability to participate in the hearing.
  6. Define procedural fairness.
  7. Government must conduct assessments to ensure that the proposed amendment does not infringe on the right to be heard, particularly for tenants who are not able to access legal advice prior to a hearing.
  8. Consider alternative procedural safeguards to ensure tenants can fully assert legal defences in the event they were not aware of their rights prior to the hearing.


 

[1] There are several additional measures proposed in Bill 60 that are currently not receiving submissions:

Evict Persistent late payment cases, Allow the government to prescribe the contents of notices of termination, including the N4 form (Notice to End a Tenancy Early for Non-payment of Rent), Standardize postponement of an Eviction Order, Amend authority on setting aside an Eviction Orde, Increase enforcement resources to reduce wait times to enforce LTB eviction orders once filed and Tribunals Ontario to explore options for increasing access to final Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) decisions and orders.

[2] Ontario Human Rights Code, R.S.O. 1990, c. H.19 s 2 (1).

[3] Ontario Human Rights Commission, “Poverty POV – What We Are Hearing”. Ontario Human Rights Commission, online: https://www3.ohrc.on.ca/en/poverty-pov-what-we-are-hearing

[4] International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, 1966, art. 11

[5] Tranchemontagne v. Ontario (Director, Disability Support Program), 2006 SCC 14.

[6] LTB Interpretation Guideline 17 – Human Rights, Tribunals Ontario (LTB), paras 2–3. Tribunals Ontario

[7] Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, S.O. 2006, c. 17, s83(2).