The Ontario Court of Appeal today released its decision in the City of Toronto’s appeal from the decision of the Divisional Court to permit a class action to proceed on behalf of Parkdale rooming house tenants to whom the City failed to send notice of their entitlement to rent reductions, in breach of its duty under the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006. In rejecting the City’s appeal, the Court of Appeal confirmed that the City may owe a duty of care to these rooming house tenants, who were the intended beneficiaries of a pilot project designed to regularize poor quality rooming houses in the Parkdale area of Toronto, while providing both tax incentives to landlords and rent reductions to tenants. Xaidsart lawyers Brendan van Niejenhuis and Justin Safayeni act on behalf of the representative plaintiff in the ongoing case.
