Should the new City of Toronto license rooming houses?
At present, only the old City of Toronto licenses rooming houses. Licensing has benefits and drawbacks. Its chief benefit is that it makes rooming houses officially “visible.” City of Toronto staff may inspect licensed rooming houses to ensure that they comply with building codes, fire codes, and city bylaws. This allows the city to set standards and to apply sanctions against landlords who do not keep their properties safe or in good repair. However, some of these standards are onerous or unrealistic for small rooming houses. If a smaller rooming house cannot comply, it may lose its license, and either close down (evicting tenants in the process) or continue to operate illegally, without inspections. If the new City does not extend the system of licensing to the other five former municipalities, rooming houses throughout the City will become “invisible”. There will be no way for the City to enforce fire protection measures or building codes on a routine basis. From the point of view o
