Rental housing sector responds to Ontario's announcement that it intends to freeze rents in 2021, a move that has blindsided the industry.

Apartment owners aren’t just fearing heightened exposure to COVID-19, but the potential onslaught of rent defaults by tenants unable to pay.

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.

Hamilton-area landlords are speaking out after city councillors voted to move ahead on a rental housing licensing pilot affecting properties with six or fewer units. If approved, landlords will be required to obtain a rental housing license for $200.

A new landlord licensing system could be coming to Toronto as early as January 2017. Representatives of tenant advocacy group ACORN discussed the idea with city officials at a Municipal Licensing and Standards Committee meeting on Thursday May, 19th, and voted to move ahead with the plan.