The PIVOT Legal Society has started to hand out Tenant Rights cards (in PDF) to Downtown Eastside tenants. PIVOT hopes the cards can help tenants navigate interactions with landlords but PIVOT warns that there is not much legal protection for tenants. Read more about the cards on the PIVOT website.

Thanks to lobbying by anti-poverty advocates and activists, the Ontario government has invested $5 million dollars into rent banks to help renters who are facing eviction stay in their homes ("Families in need get help with rent"). A Rent Bank gives a short term loan or grant to eligible renters who are facing eviction. The Ontario Rent Bank Network has more information about the program.

Quebec's Liberals suggested that Landlords may have the ability to take welfare checks away from tenants who are benhind on their rent payments. Many people are horrified by this suggestion. Many critics argue that it discriminatory against one group of tenants and suggest that if they want to solve the problem of tenants not paying their rent, the government should increase welfare payments and fund more social housing. For more information read the CBC article about the Liberals' proposition.

The new Residential Tenancy Act (RTA) came into force on January 1, 2004. The new act is set out in Residential Tenancy Act 1992 (Bill 70), and is amended by Tenancy Statutes Amendment Act 2003 (Bill 77). A copy of the new Residential Tenancy Regulations is available online. For more information, see the Tenants’ Rights Action Coalition website and the Residential Tenancy Office website.

The British Columbia residential tenancy act has passed Third Reading and is scheduled for assent on November 17, 2003. The Status of the bill's Third Reading is available on a complete list of the progress of bills in the 4th Session of the BC Legislature.

Bill 70, the Residential Tenancy Act, will bring changes for landlords and tenants in British Columbia. Included in the proposed new Bill includes a change to security deposits - allowing landlords to collect extra deposits for keys, access cards and garage door openers, over and above the half-month damage deposit as well as giving landlords the right to decide whether to allow pets and will be permitted to collect an added damage deposit to cover damage that might be caused by pets. Bill 71, the Manufactured Home Park Tenancy Act covers mobile homes. The Tenants Rights Action Coalition (TRAC) has pointed out some concerns regarding this new legislation. Read Bill 70, Bill 71 and TRAC's critique of the legislation (in PDF).

Ombudsman Asked to investigate Ontario Rental Housing Tribunal concerning the failure of the Tenant Protection Act and the Rules and Procedures of the Ontario Rental Housing Tribunal to meet Ombudsman fairness standards. A Dawn Ontario webpage offers corresponding links.

The Centre for Equality Rights in Accommodation (CERA) reports, in Challenging Homelessness and Poverty (in RTF), income criteria found to constitute discrimination based on race and age to be illegal under Ontario's amended human rights code. Recently, an Ontario Board of Inquiry decision has found that minimum income criteria or rent to income ratios constitute discrimination on the grounds of race and age, and are prohibited under Ontario's Human Rights Code.

A Human Rights Board of Inquiry has found that landlords are not permitted under new regulations to the Ontario Human Rights Code to discriminate against low-income applicants by imposing a minimum "rent-to-income ratio". Board of Inquiry Adjudicator Mary Anne McKellar was appointed to adjudicate a 1989 human rights complaint alleging that a 25% rent-to-income rule discriminates against young, single women. In her ruling, McKellar finds that the evidence shows that there is no correlation between rent-to-income ratios and risk of default.

• Bruce Porter, Executive Director of the Centre for Equality Rights in Accommodation (CERA), who represented the claimant in the case, says that the decision is an important victory for low-income households in search of affordable housing. CERA's press release talks about the victory and a CERA article gives background to the case.

  "Low income households can’t possibly find an apartment where they would pay 25% of income on rent, so these kinds of policies simply force them into the most overpriced apartments on the market or, worse, into shelters," Porter said. "The increasing use of minimum rent to income ratios has been a significant factor contributing to the rise of homelessness, particularly among young people and families."