Bill 60: What is it?

Summary:

 Is an omnibus law that amends a wide range of Ontario statutes, from planning and transit laws to the Residential Tenancies Act (RTA). The government frames it as a way to speed up housing and infrastructure construction, move people and goods faster, and reduce delays at the Landlord and Tenant Board so disputes are resolved more quickly.

While it touches 16 different Acts, the most important changes for rental housing are in Schedule 12, which amends the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006.

Why it matters for landlords

Bill 60 is designed to make it easier to deal with chronic non-payment and long, drawn-out LTB processes. Shorter timelines and clearer rules around “persistent late payment” may mean faster outcomes when rent is repeatedly late.

Why it matters for tenants

Tenants keep the right to raise their own claims at non-payment hearings—but now often need to pay a significant portion of the arrears up front, and must be very careful with notice forms and deadlines. In practice, that raises the stakes for anyone who falls behind on rent or waits too long to address repair and rights issues.

CHANGES:

• All termination notices (for landlords and tenants) must use Board-approved or prescribed forms.

• New rules around “persistent late payment” of rent, to be defined in regulations.

• For non-payment (N4-type) cases, landlords can now terminate as early as 7 days after serving notice, instead of the longer timelines used before.

• Tenants who want to raise their own issues (like maintenance or harassment) at a non-payment hearing must, in most cases, pay half of the arrears claimed before the hearing, unless an exception is set out in regulation.

• Time limits and conditions around LTB reviews and the Board’s discretion to refuse or delay eviction can now be restricted by regulation.

  
  

What do you think of Bill 60?