Proposal will have “no impact on programs or the public,” says provincial housing ministry
Ontario’s provincial government has proposed changes to several housing and tenancy laws – including the dissolution of the Ontario Mortgage and Housing Corporation (OMHC).
The Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing’s proposed Protecting Tenants and Strengthening Community Housing Act would make several changes to the Residential Tenancies Act, the Housing Services Act, the Ontario Mortgage and Housing Corporation Act and the Building Code Act.
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According to the ministry, the changes would include compensating tenants for “no fault” evictions, increasing tenant compensation for “bad faith” evictions, streamlining landlord and tenant board processes, and providing more tools for better enforcement of offences.
Significantly, the ministry proposes dissolving the OMHC – a move it said would “shift the financial responsibilities for various legacy housing programs from an agency to the ministry.”
Currently, the mandate of the OMHC includes administering marketable and forgivable loans and mortgages from legacy housing programs, including those transferred from the Ontario Mortgage Corporation. While reporting to and staffed by the ministry, OMHC is considered a separate agency.
“The proposed change would have no impact on programs or the public, as the agency's work is already performed by ministry staff,” the ministry said in a statement.
The ministry added that it will continue to “consult on the governance and accountability requirements a future administrative authority would have to adhere to, how it would fund its operations, and what services it would deliver.”
