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.