Moved by Regional Councillor Santos
Whereas:
1. The RRL is in place to address non-compliant property, parking, and health and safety standards of registered and unregistered ARU properties which are negatively impacting quality of life and overall safety of residents; and
2. The City ongoingly receives thousands of complaints and evidence of overcrowding and excessive subletting of rental units within registered and unregistered ARUs which may or may not be licensed through RRL; and
3. The City currently does not have bylaws in place to control overcrowding and excessive subletting; and
4. The Residential Tenancies Act allows landlords to reasonably deny tenants from subletting based on property capacity and local legislation; and
5. Through ARU registration and RRL, it is possible to track the total number of units per ARU household, and respectively determine safe occupancy numbers for each RRL license held; and
6. The City’s comments to the Province on “Bill 185, Cutting Red Tape to Build More Homes Act, 2024” highlighted the need for the Province to consult with municipalities on safety, environmental and community impacts related to the enforcement of ARUS; and
7. The provision of ARUs to address the national housing crisis should be more than simply providing a roof over heads, and needs to focus on the integration of ARUs as part of complete communities; and
8. The province and federal government needs to consider municipal funding programs to help municipalities enforce the proper construction, maintenance and licensing of ARUs; and
9. Currently, the City of Brampton’s Official Plan and Zoning By-law 270-2004 only allow Lodging Houses in detached dwelling units within the downtown core and it is illegal to operate an unregistered lodging or group home without a licence or outside this area; and
10. Staff have been directed by resolution CW113-2023 (cl.5) to “Develop a workplan to update Lodging Houses for city-wide Application”; and
11. Supportive Housing (previously known as “Group Homes”) are regulated by Supportive Housing Registration By-law 254-2021 and Supportive Housing Residences Type 1 and Type 2 shall not operate in the City unless they are registered as per By-law 254-2021.
Therefore be it resolved that:
1. Staff report back (in Q4), with bylaw recommendations that outline occupancy limits within the existing process for ARU registration and Residential Rental Licensing; and
2. Staff report back with recommendations on how overcrowding and excessive subletting will be identified and tracked, and how occupancy limits will be enforced through the RRL process; and
3. Staff report back on a process to identify and enforce existing legislation regarding illegal lodging and group homes; and
4. The City advocate to the provincial and federal government (cc’d to FCM and AMO) for municipal funding programs to help municipalities enforce the proper and safe construction, maintenance and licensing of ARUs that prioritizes safety of residents; and
5. As part of the above advocacy to appropriate provincial and federal Ministers, local MPPs and MPs, this motion be included as an attachment.