Evictions in Toronto: Governance Challenges and the Need for Intergovernmental Cooperation
In Canada, provinces control the residential eviction process, but cities experience the effects of these policies, from rising housing instability to an increased burden on the shelter system.
In a new paper for the Institute on Municipal Finance and Governance (IMFG), 2020–2021 IMFG Post-Doctoral Fellow Julie Mah maps the eviction crisis in Toronto and reviews the residential eviction process in Ontario. Her findings show the impact of evictions and the City’s limited authority to prevent them.
While municipalities have the power to develop and implement eviction prevention programs, they are relatively powerless to solve systemic drivers of evictions. That power lies at the provincial level. This gap impedes a municipality’s ability to meet eviction prevention goals. Since municipalities deal with the financial and social impacts of provincial policy decisions, they should be meaningfully included and engaged in the decision-making process.