Hamilton City Council has voted unanimously to defer the vote on a new anti-renoviction by-law to January of next year with some members saying they want to include feedback from the community before it’s passed.
The by-law was first deferred in August when it was among other measures the City took to protect tenants.
A by-law to specifically protect against renoviction is being described by local advocacy group ACORN as the first of its kind in Ontario.
Members of ACORN Hamilton gathered in front of City Hall Thursday to support the potential by-law, but at the same time say that it needs more work before it is ultimately passed.
A renoviction is when landlords use renovations to evict tenants.
Major renovations require an N-13 permit. If passed, the renovation license and relocation listing by-law would require landlords looking to issue an N-13 to get a license from the City. To do so, they would need to provide proof from an engineer.
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“Over two thousand Hamiltonians are homeless, over well known to us 280 individuals are living encamped, in the City of Toronto, 30 per cent of unique individuals using shelters for the first time are there because they were evicted out of their apartments.” says Ward 3 Councillor Nrinder Nann.
“We know where this story is headed and we have the duty and responsibility as a municipality to curb that trend. We have the possibility of this term of council to do what we can to preserve affordable housing that’s here and defer the rights for our renting population and that is the primary motivator for this once and for all deferral.”
During Thursday’s meeting the fate of the by-law was pushed to January 18, 2024 as councillors wanted the City to incorporate the feedback they received from advocacy groups.
Earlier this year, the City declined to create a new housing division that would consist of more than 30 employees in order to enforce the by-law.
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