Tenants, landlords agree Ontario's rental tribunal is a mess

Ontario's trouble-plagued Landlord and Tenant Board goes under the microscope on Thursday (May 4)

Ontario's trouble-plagued Landlord and Tenant Board goes under the microscope on Thursday (May 4) when the province's ombudsman releases the report on his investigation into delays at the rental-housing tribunal.

In his lengthy report Paul Dubé made 61 recommendations to address a backlog of cases at the tribunal that has ballooned to more than 38,000 applications.

The Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) rules on rental disputes in Ontario, handling tens of thousands of cases every year. It's the tribunal where tenants can fight unjustified rent increases and where landlords go to seek eviction orders.

More than 30 per cent of Ontario households — or roughly five million people — live in rental accommodation, according to Statistics Canada.

Although tenants and landlords are adversaries when they have a case at the Landlord and Tenant Board, the two sides agree on one thing: the rental tribunal has been functioning poorly for years.

Ontario's ombudsman Paul Dubé announced the investigation back in January 2020, citing a sharp increase in complaints to his office during 2019 about delays and backlogs at the LTB.

Dubé's report is expected to include some sharp criticism of the government for allowing the case backlogs to grow before the pandemic even began.

The ombudsman will also make recommendations for change.