The Ontario Landlords Association (OLA) is calling for more support for rental housing providers as the COVID-19 state of emergency persists and the moratorium on evictions continues into the foreseeable future.

Adding to the growing list of landlord concerns, organizations such as ACORN are asking for a temporary rent-free period for all renters and an immediate freeze on all rent rates.

“Mortgage deferrals are great for homeowners, but what about tenants?” Marva Burnett, president of ACORN Canada, said in a statement. “We’re in the middle of the worst housing crisis in North America and now people are scared to work or get laid off. We need a rent break or families are going to end up homeless when this is over.”

But, as OLA points out, landlords aren’t seeing any reprieve from monthly mortgage payments either, given that investment properties do not meet the deferral criteria currently set out by lenders.

To address the issue, OLA has reached out to the Ford Government with several recommendations it feels would benefit cash-strapped landlords and renters equally: one being to expand Toronto’s rent bank to cover the whole province; another being to make social housing available to those who can’t make their rent payments.

Meanwhile in Toronto, Mayor John Tory is expected to announce new measures stemming from his discussions with large residential building owners and apartment industry advocates, as well as earlier talks with Toronto Community Housing Corp.

Stay tuned as we update this ongoing story.