The Ontario Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) has many challenges. In the middle of a historic rental housing supply shortage, the LTB’s ineffectiveness is hurting tenants and landlords.

We commend the provincial government and Attorney General Doug Downey for recognizing the challenges at the LTB, and applaud their commitment to take action by hiring more adjudicators, improving operational systems and, more recently, by proposing to speed up operations at the LTB as part of the Fall 2024 Red Tape Reduction Package. All these recommendations are supported by TRREB, but further reform is needed to ensure meaningful change. It’s time for reform to the LTB that breaks the backlog of cases and focuses on making the process faster and fairer for consumers.

Financial and general well-being

The LTB is one of the busiest tribunals in the province, receiving more than 80,000 applications annually. Applications to the LTB have a big impact on the financial and general well-being of thousands of tenants and landlords every year. The Tribunal is a critical part of Ontario’s rental housing system protecting both tenants and landlords while keeping cases out of the costly court system.

In May 2023, the Ontario Ombudsman released a long-awaited investigation into the Tribunal that detailed structural, operational, and service-related problems. According to the most recent Tribunals Ontario 2022–23 Annual Report, the backlog of cases at the LTB had grown to 53,000. Furthermore, the Ombudsman investigation found that it is taking an average of seven or eight months – and sometimes up to two years – for a hearing to be scheduled.

What’s driving the backlog? Systemic operational ineffectiveness is one of the major reasons. According to its 2021–22 Annual Report, the Tribunal set a goal of having 80 per cent of eviction applications considered within 25 days. Unfortunately, the Tribunal only meets this target for a fast hearing for landlords to evict problem tenants 0.2 per cent of the time with the average hearing taking almost 75 days just to schedule.

The Ombudsman’s report provided painful details about tenants and landlords who, because of the significant delays, were forced to deal with harassment, criminal behaviour and financial ruin. In many instances, landlords waited months – sometimes years – for a hearing only to have to restart the application process all over again because of errors in their paperwork.

Prioritizing reforms

The recent provincial announcements are a great start, and TRREB is encouraging the government to go further by prioritizing three other reforms from our newly released policy report on fixing problems at the LTB called Breaking the Backlog, including:

• Reinstating in-person hearings: Providing multiple options for hearings to accommodate all stakeholders
• Strengthening technological infrastructure: Ensuring that digital platforms used by the LTB are reliable and accessible
• Enforcing stricter timelines: Mandating that hearings and decisions at the LTB are made before the termination date of a tenancy.

“With a major backlog of cases at the LTB, we see an urgent need for meaningful reform that ensures fair and swift resolutions for landlords and tenants alike,” says John DiMichele, TRREB CEO. “Our recommendations are designed to improve access to justice and restore public confidence in the LTB’s operations.

“TRREB has long been a champion of reform at the LTB to make the tribunal more efficient for both rental property owners and tenants,” adds DiMichele. “Thankfully, the provincial government has recognized the challenges at the LTB and has committed to action. We’re proud to be working with Minister Downey and his team on the latest round of reforms to the LTB.”

Ontario is in the middle of a housing affordability crisis, and we need all hands on deck to help families and individuals find safe and affordable homes. Reforming the LTB to make it faster and fairer will go a long way to getting more families and individuals into homes they can afford.

Read the report and TRREB’s recommendations on trreb.ca now.