Month November 2024

New Report Calls for Urgent Reforms at Ontario’s Landlord and Tenant Board

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A recently published report by the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB) calls for urgent changes to address significant delays and inefficiencies at Ontario’s Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB). The report notes that, while Ontario is taking steps to improve operations at the LTB, action is urgently needed to address backlogs and rebuild confidence in Toronto’s rental market.

According to an Ombudsman Ontario investigation, there are more than 53,000 unresolved cases at the LTB. The following are among the ten recommendations the TRREB outlines in the report to improve efficiency and accessibility at the LTB:

  • Reinstate in-person hearings
  • Create a special backlog reduction team focused on addressing older and urgent cases
  • Streamline the appointments process to ensure that qualified, experienced adjudicators remain in their positions
  • Strengthen technological infrastructure
  • Enforce stricter timelines 
  • Adopt better screening processes to prevent unfair or unnecessary termination of applications

The news release for the TRREB’s “Breaking the Backlog: Restoring Fairness and Justice to Ontario’s Landlord and Tenant Board” report is available here: https://trreb.ca/trreb-releases-report-breaking-the-backlog-restoring-fairness-and-justice-to-ontarios-landlord-and-tenant-board/. The report is available in full here: https://trreb.ca/hlfiles/pdf/TRREB-Breaking_the_Backlog.pdf.

Alberta Seeking Feedback to Improve Access to Family Justice Services

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The Government of Alberta has launched a survey aimed at gathering feedback from Albertans on how the province’s family justice services can better support their needs. According to a Government of Alberta new release about the public survey, Alberta’s government is “committed to supporting Alberta families, improving access to justice and investing in the family justice system…[including] expanding services that help Albertans resolve their family law issues in a manner that promotes family well-being while reducing pressure on the courts.” The survey, which launched on November 22nd,is open to Albertans until December 20th, 2024.

As recently as 2023, there have been several major investments in family justice in the province, include $5 million to expand pre-court services in Edmonton and Calgary. In 2025, $3 million will be allocated to the expansion of the province’s Family Justice Strategy to Red Deer. The province continues to see an increase in the number of Albertans accessing pre-court services. As of October 2024, almost 50,000 Albertans accessed pre-court services through the Family Justice Strategy, and almost 27,000 Albertans used the Alberta Family Resolution Hub for the first time. In addition, there has been an almost 13 per cent increase in the use of dispute resolution programs such as mediation.

To learn more about Alberta’s Family Justice Strategy or to access the survey, visit: https://your.alberta.ca/fjs-public/surveys/survey1.

Information for this post was gleaned for the “Expanding access to family justice” news release published by the Government of Alberta: https://www.alberta.ca/release.cfm?xID=914054E15BAF9-9F5C-DA0E-E71FF8EB0D5BEC66.

New Study Examines Canadians’ Knowledge and Views on the Supreme Court

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Non-profit organization, the Angus Reid Institute has published data from a new study on Canadians’ views on the Supreme Court of Canada. Data from the study are organized in the final report according to the following three themes:

  • Knowledge about the Supreme Court
  • Views on the Supreme Court’s Impartiality
  • Supreme Court Reforms

The study reveals that more than half of Canadians believe either justices can hold other jobs (12%) or are unsure (45%) and that justices are appointed for life. Approximately one-third (31%) didn’t know about the term limits. Interestingly, while roughly two-thirds (63%) of Americans can correctly identify at least two Supreme Court justices from a list containing a combination of decoy names and the names of justices, only about one-quarter (25%) of Canadians can do the same.

The study also reveals that a majority of Canadians (62%) believe that the Supreme Court of Canada is impartial, while 22% believe that it is biased. A majority (65%) believe that law is more influential than politics in the decisions dispensed by the Supreme Court. Despite belief in the impartiality of the Supreme Court, fewer than half of Canadians (49%) say that they have confidence in the Supreme Court, while 42% say that they do not have confidence in the Supreme Court.

For other findings from the Angus Reid Institute study, or to view the methodology, demographic characteristics of study respondents, or the questionnaire, please visit: https://angusreid.org/supreme-court-appointment-impartial-bilingualism/.   

Canadian Bar Association Gathering Feedback on the Articling Experience Across Canada

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A recently launched Canadian Bar Association (CBA) survey aims to identify changes that can be made to articling programs across Canada to better “support the well-being and professional development of future lawyers”. Research reveals that approximately 25 per cent of articling students have had experiences that made them question whether they should stay in the legal profession. This CBA survey provides an opportunity to share positive and negative feedback about articling and make recommendations on ways to improve these programs.

The CBA “Evaluating the Impact of Articling: Best Practices and Areas for Reform” survey will remain open until Friday, November 15. The survey is available in English here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/CBAarticling. The survey is available in French here: https://fr.surveymonkey.com/r/sondageABC.