Mayor promises to go after ‘slumlords’ with proactive inspections of problem apartments
Chow has continued to aggressively court renter votes after the cohort showed up for her in the 2023 mayoral byelection
Aidan Chamandy, Sep 25, 2026
TORONTO – Olivia Chow promised to “go after slumlords” by establishing a new unit dedicated to bolstering property standards enforcement in Toronto apartment buildings if she’s reelected on Oct. 26.
The move continues Chow’s aggressive courtship of renters during her three-year term — which includes moves like a new renoviction bylaw — after the cohort broke decisively for her in the 2023 mayoral byelection.
The pitch was motivated by the city’s experience dealing with 500 Dawes Rd., a notoriously bad building in Toronto’s east end. The landlord, Carolyn Krebs, was recently slapped with massive fines and jail time for letting the building fall into disrepair. The city took on some of the maintenance work itself and added the cost to Krebs’ property tax bill.
Chow’s new $2.15 million program would consist of enforcement officers and lawyers funded by landlord fines and the city’s RentSafeTO program, which raises revenue from certain landlords through fines and a $30 per-unit annual registration fee. Standard RentSafeTO enforcement teams have 11 people. Chow’s new program would add five lawyers to each team, her campaign said.
On top of hiring more staff, Chow promised a more “proactive” enforcement regime compared to what’s currently on offer. The so-called “bad landlords task force” would hone in on buildings with a history of violations. If the same landlord owns other buildings, those would be next on the target list for enhanced inspections.
“If you own one serious problem building, we will inspect every building you own,” Chow said.
However, Chow indicated she already knows where she would start in a potential second term.
“I have a list,” she said.
Benjamin Ries, a tenant lawyer with South Etobicoke Community Legal Services, said adding staff and shifting to more proactive enforcement would help correct a perceived fault with RentSafeTO, the city’s existing enforcement program.
Currently, the city conducts biannual inspections of every apartment building with more than three storeys and 10 units through RentSafeTO. Inspectors focus on the exterior, common areas, and mechanical systems rather than going inside individual units.
Buildings are assigned a score out of 100. Those in the bottom 2.5 per cent are subject to a deeper audit, which can lead to penalties. Alternatively, several 311 calls from tenants can also lead to audits and fines if violations are found.
“While some of the RentSafeTO program design is intended to operate regardless of complaint, my impression is that a lot of activity is currently complaint-based,” he said.
“It’s clear to me that more resources are needed,” he added. “Proactively looking for patterns … makes all the sense in the world.”
Representatives from two major industry associations said they support going harder against bad landlords but are worried the new program could lead to added costs — which would likely be passed on to renters
Marielle Hossack, director of policy at the Federation of Rental-housing Providers of Ontario (FRPO), said the organization is concerned the $2.15 million in new costs might not be recouped through fines alone, which could lead to higher registration fees across the board.
“The focus should be on making non-compliance costly for bad actors and directing enforcement where it is needed most, rather than increasing costs across the board for housing providers that are doing the right thing,” she said.
Further, Daryl Chong, president of the Greater Toronto Apartments Association, said the city should direct even more resources toward the worst actors, rather than spending time and money inspecting new buildings in good condition.
RentSafe spends a “disproportionate amount of time” inspecting buildings with high scores, Chong said. “The time spent here could be better allocated and be more results-oriented if you just focused on bad operators and left the good buildings alone.”
“Over the course of time since this has started, absolutely, this has increased rents,” Chong added. “I’d hate to see a new program to continue increasing rents.”
Chow also hinted that she’d be open to expanding the city’s rental inspection program beyond standard apartment buildings with more than three storeys and 10 units. The city’s current RentSafeTO database lists over 3,500 apartment buildings with over 325,000 units.
“As mayor, Chow will look at expanding what types of units and buildings are covered by the program,” a campaign spokesperson said. “She is always looking for ways to bring more types of units into RentSafeTO and hold bad landlords accountable.”
Ries said changing the current three-storey, 10-unit threshold could mean the RentSafeTO staff face new challenges from different types of buildings.
“There’s some thought that it requires different expertise and different standards,” he said.
For example, larger buildings are more likely to be professionally managed by corporations with better access to capital for repairs, compared to a smaller landlord who might rent out a couple of units in their house.
“Some of the requirements and standards imposed by RentSafeTO on apartment buildings might not be a good fit for a smaller home where the basement is rented out,” he said.
At its core, potentially expanding the program is a question of adequate resources, Ries said.
“Is the mayor going to ensure that the legal staff prosecuting bylaw offences by large landlords also has the time or capacity to prosecute bylaw offences by smaller landlords?”
www.villagereport.ca/village-picks/chow-promises-slumlords-inspections-problem-apartments-12825207
