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Follow us on TwitterCanada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s (CMHC) operating agreements with non‑profit housing co‑operatives and rental housing providers have begun to expire across Canada at a rapid rate. These agreements with their related mortgages, entered into under various federal programs between 1970 and 1994, supply housing providers with between 25 and 40 years of annual subsidy money to provide reduced monthly charges to a specified percentage of tenants and members who qualify for support. With the conclusion of these agreements and their related mortgages, housing providers will cease making mortgage payments, but at the same time, they will no longer receive housing subsidy payments — payments that subsidize some 200,000 households in Canada comprising half a million people. While not all subsidized housing providers in Canada get their subsidies through CMHC operating agreements, the potential loss is a big blow to the sector. This, on top of an already serious affordable housing shortage, is cause for concern.
Housing
The Responsible Housing Provider – lessons from court
July 21st, 2014 by Celia ChandlerWe are often called on to give advice about neighbours who behave towards each other in ways that are less than constructive. In previous blogs, we’ve referred to these neighbours as “the unco‑operative co‑oper”. But of course, unneighbourly behaviour goes way beyond the walls of housing co‑ops. Landlords, condo boards, and boards of co‑ownerships are also routinely called upon to monitor behaviour that does not conform to the community standard. Relationships that began cordially enough sometimes become tense over a simple misunderstanding and then left unchecked, tensions blossom into full disputes.
What should housing providers do? Continue reading “The Responsible Housing Provider – lessons from court”
First Decision of the LTB related under Eviction Law Reform
July 9th, 2014 by Celia ChandlerOn July 3, 2014, a Hearing Officer with the Landlord and Tenant issued what we believe to be the first order of the LTB under the new co‑op eviction system – the file number is TNC‑00001‑14.
Continue reading “First Decision of the LTB related under Eviction Law Reform”
Co-op Evictions: New LTB process documents now available
June 2nd, 2014 by Iler CampbellCo-op Evictions: New LTB process begins June 1
May 30th, 2014 by Celia ChandlerAs many of you know, today marks the last day to file an application in Superior Court to evict members from housing co‑operatives. Starting June 1st, co-op evictions will be handled by the Landlord and Tenant Board. This is the end of a long relationship we have had with many housing co‑operatives in the GTA and beyond helping them make difficult eviction decisions and then process those through the court system. It has been our pleasure to work with you on these.
Continue reading “Co-op Evictions: New LTB process begins June 1”
Does the right to housing belong in Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms?
May 29th, 2014 by Shelina AliThis week, the Ontario Court of Appeal is hearing an appeal of the 2013 court decision in Tanudjaja et. al. v. Attorney General (Canada) et al. dismissing an application — of four individuals who identified as homeless, together with the Centre for Equality Rights in Accommodation (the Applicants) — concerning the right to housing. The application in Tanudjaja asked the Ontario Superior Court of Justice to, among other things, make a declaration that the Government of Canada’s and the Government of Ontario’s failure to implement a national and provincial housing strategy violates the federal and provincial government’s obligations under sections 7 and 15(1) of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms (the Charter). By seeking this declaration, the application put the issue of whether social and economic rights are embodied in the Charter squarely in front of the court.
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