Province officially pauses residential evictions for duration of State of Emergency

By Lucas Casaletto

The province has now issued an emergency order to temporarily pause residential evictions.

The order will ensure people are not forced from their homes during Ontario’s newly enforced state of emergency and stay at home order.

“By temporarily pausing residential evictions, we are ensuring that all Ontarians are able to stay home, stay safe, and save lives,” said Steve Clark, minister of municipal affairs and housing.


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“Our government will ensure that residential evictions continue to be paused for the remainder of the state of emergency, as long as it lasts.”

Tenants across the province have long advocated government and city officials to reinstate the residential eviction ban for the duration of the pandemic.

This is the second time in less than a year that the Ford government has paused residential evictions.

The province says the emergency order will protect homeowners who are facing evictions “due to court orders for possession of their properties.”

Evictions were previously suspended until the summer of last year after the Landlord and Tenant Board worked through a backlog of cases that observers said predated the pandemic and grew in 2020 as more people lost income.

The province says changes to the residential tenancies act also require the Landlord and Tenant Board to consider whether a landlord attempted to negotiate a repayment agreement, before resorting to an eviction for non-payment of rent during COVID-19.

“We’re encouraging landlords and tenants to work together – as they have been doing for the last several months – to ensure that we keep Ontarians safe,” said minister Clark.

“We want to remind tenants who can pay their rent that they must continue to do so, to the best of their abilities.”

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