Council’s inaction on rooming houses is shameful
Toronto’s mayor and council failed as leaders when they chose not to act on multi-tenant houses, or “rooming houses” as many call them.
They failed to make rooming houses legal and bring them under a citywide set of regulations to ensure the quality and capacity of these deeply affordable homes.
They failed to ensure that the people living in them have access to the same rights other tenants have.
They chose to defer the decision until sometime in 2022, after having already done so once before. Choosing to delay is a choice to maintain the status quo: CRISIS.
Homelessness and inadequate affordable housing were problems that have been smouldering in this city for decades and are now raging wildfires fanned by the winds of the pandemic. Rooming houses are some of the most affordable homes in this city, and they could be decent housing if local government stepped up to ensure their quality.
Do the mayor and council understand the implications of their failure to act — the impact that it has on human lives? They have no excuse not to.
Much work has gone into getting to these proposed regulations. We know because Maytree has been privileged to be part of this work. And we know that many community organizations, advocates, and leaders have been doing the same for many years.
We’ve also seen many dedicated city staff and city councillors working hard to bring these proposed regulations to life — including helping their peers see the urgency and the duty that they have as elected officials and public servants. Instead of getting support from their mayor and fellow councillors, they have been abandoned.
Maybe the mayor is thinking about the upcoming municipal election, and whether making rooming houses legal throughout the city will affect his chances at re-election.
Maybe this is also on the minds of councillors, who are used to hearing only from the few but vocal NIMBYists in their wards, and from members of local homeowner associations, which are deeply unrepresentative bodies.
Maybe they don’t hear much from the people who are one paycheque away from homelessness, nor from the many people who wish to support their neighbours to live with dignity — all of whom also live in their wards.
What’s the point of being mayor if you are not willing to lead? What is the point of being a councillor if you are not willing to represent and serve everyone in your ward? If you do not take your duty to protect the dignity and human rights of every person living in Toronto seriously, you are in the wrong job.
Because legalizing rooming houses is an issue of human rights. Safe, secure, and affordable housing is a human right. Fortuitous property value escalation is not.
We don’t need more time to consider what to do with rooming houses. We need leadership in the mayor’s office and council chambers, now.
Elisabeth McIsaac is president of Maytree Foundation.
Alan Broadbent is chairman of Maytree Foundation.