Ontario Tenant Policy Review: Preliminary Findings through Process Mapping
Person holding a key and small house
PDF

Keywords

tenant policy
Ontario
process mapping
landlord-tenant relationship
conflicts and disputes
eviction
landlords
tenants

How to Cite

Chan, C. Y. C., & Piscitelli, A. (2025). Ontario Tenant Policy Review: Preliminary Findings through Process Mapping. Journal of Innovation in Polytechnic Education, 7(1), 38–48. https://doi.org/10.69520/jipe.v7i1.233

Abstract

Maintaining good relationships between landlords and tenants helps to resolve conflicts and disputes. Good tenant policies pushed forward created by socially responsible landlords are also crucial to protecting tenants from eviction. This paper uses process mapping to answer the following questions specifically within the Ontario context: 1) Where and how do landlords and tenants interact? What are the common issues and conflicts involved in these interactions? And 2) What can be done to de-escalate these issues and conflicts? In the process map, all the processes of a tenancy lifecycle are described, including the conflict points, possible outcomes and suggested remedies for each process. The process map presented is designed to improve the relationship between landlords and tenants through the collective efforts of stakeholders, such as housing organizations, tenant advisory committees, individual landlords, tenants, and housing providers. Ultimately, the process map provides tools—so socially responsible landlords can address tenants’ needs and protect tenants’ rights.

https://doi.org/10.69520/jipe.v7i1.233
PDF

References

ACORN Canada. (2024). Ontario Renoviction Report 2024. https://acorncanada.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Ontario-Renoviction-Report-2024.pdf

Adu, P., & Delmelle, E. C. (2022). Spatial Variations in Exclusionary Criteria from Online Rental Advertisements. The Professional Geographer, 74(4), 704–714. https://doi.org/10.1080/00330124.2022.2061537

Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario. (2023). Housing Hardship: How Ontario’s Renters Struggle to Keep a Roof Overhead. https://www.acto.ca/production/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/HousingHardship_ACTO_June_2023.pdf

Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario. (2024, March 14). Access to justice is under attack for Ontario renters. https://www.acto.ca/access-to-justice-is-under-attack-for-ontario-renters/

Ali, N., G., Chan, Y., Shahidi, F. V., & August, M. (2020). Stop COVID Evictions! Rent Relief Now! - A demand for social justice and public health (p. 30). https://evictionreport.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/COVIDevictionsreport.pdf

Bay Property Management Group. (2020, February 11). How to Create the Perfect Welcome Package for New Tenants. Bay Property Management Group. https://www.baymgmtgroup.com/blog/create-perfect-welcome-package-new-tenants/

Benfer, E. A., Vlahov, D., Long, M. Y., Walker-Wells, E., Pottenger, J. L., Gonsalves, G., & Keene, D. E. (2021). Eviction, Health Inequity, and the Spread of COVID-19: Housing Policy as a Primary Pandemic Mitigation Strategy. Journal of Urban Health, 98(1), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-020-00502-1

Besbris, M., Schachter, A., & Kuk, J. (2021). The Unequal Availability of Rental Housing Information Across Neighborhoods. Demography, 58(4), 1197–1221. https://doi.org/10.1215/00703370-9357518

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. (n.d.). Inspections. https://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/consumers/renting-a-home/i-am-renting/inspections

Canadian Centre for Housing Rights. (2022). “Sorry, it’s rented.” Measuring discrimination against newcomers in Toronto’s rental housing market [Research report]. https://housingrightscanada.com/reports/sorry-its-rented-2022/

Canadian Centre for Housing Rights. (2023). Evictions in Toronto—A Research Insight Note (p. 12). https://housingrightscanada.com/reports/evictions-in-toronto-a-research-insight-note/

City of Toronto. (2020, September 25). Rights & Responsibilities for Landlords & Tenants. City of Toronto. https://www.toronto.ca/community-people/housing-shelter/rental-housing-tenant-information/rights-responsibilities-for-landlords-tenants/

Collins, D., De Vos, E., Evans, J., Severson Mason, M., Anderson-Baron, J., Cruickshank, V., & McDowell, K. (2022). “When We Do Evict Them, It’s a Last Resort”: Eviction Prevention in Social and Affordable Housing. Housing Policy Debate, 32(3), 473–490. https://doi.org/10.1080/10511482.2021.1900890

Dalton, A. (2016). Eviction Prevention Framework. Shelter, Support and Housing Administration. https://www.toronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/96e5-SSHA-Eviction-Prevention-Framework.pdf

Desmond, M., & Kimbro, R. T. (2015). Eviction’s Fallout: Housing, Hardship, and Health. Social Forces, 94(1), 295–324. https://doi.org/10.1093/sf/sov044

Government of Canada. (2023, June 16). A review of Canadian homelessness data, 2023. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/75f0002m/75f0002m2023004-eng.htm

Holl, M., van den Dries, L., & Wolf, J. R. L. M. (2016). Interventions to prevent tenant evictions: A systematic review. Health & Social Care in the Community, 24(5), 532–546. https://doi.org/10.1111/hsc.12257

United Nations. (1967). International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, art 11.1, 993. https://treaties.un.org/doc/Treaties/1976/01/19760103%2009-57%20PM/Ch_IV_03.pdf

Kalia, A. (2024, January 1). Residential Tenant Moving Out Process. Square One Condos Mississauga Condos Realtor Team Amit Kalia. https://condopundit.com/residential-tenant-moving-out-process/

Kibria, K. (2021). A City in Crisis: Tenant Displacement and the Fight for Housing During COVID-19 in Toronto. University of Toronto. https://search.proquest.com/openview/d89e1965b9ff002c0ef9cafead942175/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750&diss=y

Landlord and Tenant Board. (2018, December 15). The Landlord’s Right of Entry into a Rental Unit: Interpretation Guideline 19. https://tribunalsontario.ca/documents/ltb/Interpretation Guidelines/19 - The Landlords Right of Entry into a Rental Unit.html

Lapointe, L., Novac, S., & Steele, M. (2004). Analysis of Evictions under the Tenant Protection Act in the City of Toronto. Lapointe Consulting Inc. for the City of Toronto Shelter, Housing and Support Division Community and Neighbourhood Services Department. https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=7e1acef5af6a6486f0837246d42fd121a9f3f465

Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing. (2021). A guide to the standard lease for rental housing. https://files.ontario.ca/mmah-guide-to-standard-lease-for-rental-housing-en-2022-04-19.pdf

Ontario Human Rights Commission. (n.d.). Identifying discrimination in rental housing. Policy on Human Rights and Rental Housing. https://www.ohrc.on.ca/en/policy-human-rights-and-rental-housing/v-identifying-discrimination-rental-housing

Peake, H. (2021, March 24). Order of Operations for Leasing | Understanding the Lifecycle of a Tenancy. Rentec Direct Blog. https://www.rentecdirect.com/blog/order-of-operations-for-leasing-understanding-the-lifecycle-of-a-tenancy/

Rattanaprichavej, N. (2023). Decision-making process towards real estate agents, landlords, and expatriate tenants’ criteria with perspective from principal-agent theory. Cogent Business & Management, 10(3). https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2023.2288692

Sutton, S. (2022, May 5). The Resident Lifecycle: 7 Stages Every Landlord Should Know. Evernest. https://www.evernest.co/blog/the-resident-lifecycle-7-stages-every-landlord-should-know

Tenant Resource & Advisory Centre. (2024). Condition Inspection Reports. TRAC. https://tenants.bc.ca/your-tenancy/condition-inspection-reports/

Truemner, M. (2006). An Overview of the Residential Tenancies Act: A Tenant Advocate’s Perspective. Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario. http://www.acto.ca/~actoca/assets/files/docs/Article_AnOverviewOfTheRTA_MTR_0507.pdf

Tsai, J., Jones, N., Szymkowiak, D., & Rosenheck, R. A. (2021). Longitudinal study of the housing and mental health outcomes of tenants appearing in eviction court. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 56(9), 1679–1686. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-020-01953-2

United Nations General Assembly. (1948). Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 217A(III). https://www.un.org/sites/un2.un.org/files/2021/03/udhr.pdf

Vásquez-Vera, H., Palència, L., Magna, I., Mena, C., Neira, J., & Borrell, C. (2017). The threat of home eviction and its effects on health through the equity lens: A systematic review. Social Science & Medicine, 175(Complete), 199–208. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2017.01.010

Wehr, P. (1979). Conflict Regulation. Routledge.

Xuereb, S., & Jones, C. (2023). Estimating no-fault evictions in Canada: Understanding BC’s disproportionate eviction rate in the 2021 Canadian Housing Survey. Housing Research Collaborative. https://housingresearch.ubc.ca/sites/default/files/2023-05/estimating_no-fault_evictions_in_canada_0.pdf

York Co-op. (n.d.). Rental Housing Policy in Ontario. Rental Housing Policy in Ontario. https://www.yorkcoop.org/education/ontario-tenant-and-landlord-rights/rental-housing-policy-in-ontario

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.