In late November 2025, Ontario passed Bill 60, formally titled the Fighting Delays, Building Faster Act, 2025. On its surface, the legislation is pitched as a necessary reform to accelerate housing development, cut red tape, and tackle the chronic backlog at the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB). But scratch the surface and what renters across the GTA and Ontario increasingly fear is that this “streamlining” comes at the expense of tenant protections. Over 130 community and housing-rights groups, including the Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario (ACTO), have raised the alarm. The political reaction in Toronto has been sharp: the Toronto City Council voted to oppose Bill 60, warning it will destabilize housing for the roughly half of the city’s population who rent. Amid that, a louder grunt is coming from everyday tenants, many of them sharing their fears on social media platforms, painting a picture of confusion, vulnerability, and deep concern.What Bill 60 Actually Changes: Speed for Landlords, Pressure for Tenants?Bill 60 touches multiple areas beyond housing (planning, infrastructure, municipal services), but its tenancy-related provisions, tucked under Schedule 12, are what matter most to renters. Here’s what changes under the new law, and what it means for renters:<ul><li>The earliest a landlord can serve a termination notice for unpaid rent (an “N4” notice) now takes effect after just seven days,&nbsp;down from 14 under the old rules.&nbsp;</li><li>For landlords reclaiming a unit for personal use (for themselves or close family), they no longer have to pay tenants a month of rent in compensation or offer a relocation option even though that was previously required.&nbsp;</li><li>If tenants want to defend themselves at a hearing (e.g., raise repair or harassment issues, challenge maintenance or other landlord breaches), they must first pay at least 50% of the claimed rent arrears. Otherwise, they may be barred from introducing new issues at the hearing.&nbsp;</li><li>The window to appeal eviction decisions is shortened: instead of 30 days, tenants now have just 15 days to request reviews or appeals.&nbsp;</li><li>The discretion of the LTB to delay, review or overturn eviction orders is curtailed. Review and appeals processes that once provided breathing room for tenants are now much tighter.&nbsp;</li></ul>Proponents argue these changes will unclog a system burdened by years of backlog, allowing decisions for both tenants and landlords to be made more quickly, and help new housing stock circulate faster. But critics warn that Bill 60 does not facilitate new construction or affordability, rather, it empowers landlords to evict tenants quickly, reclaim units, and re-rent at higher rates. As the legislation moved through the Legislature and press coverage exploded, renters began to voice their fears, calling out the legislation as “one of the most dangerous attacks on tenant rights Ontario has seen in years.” They warned that abolishing “evergreen” leases and weakening protections could be the first step toward “circumventing rent control.” As one commenter put it: “This isn’t about a revolving door of tenants… What this bill does is effectively circumvent rent control. If you’ve been living at a place … you might soon see rent skyrocketing.” Some renters are already planning for the worst, assuming that under Bill 60 landlords could hike rents arbitrarily post-eviction, a fear that hints at broader anxieties over displacement.&nbsp;On National Housing Day, thousands gathered in downtown Toronto, many affiliated with tenant-rights groups like ACORN Canada, marching from the offices of a major landlord lobby group to the provincial legislature at Queen’s Park. Chanting slogans such as “slum lord” and “Stop the war on the poor,” the protesters decried what they see as a government-backed eviction engine that threatens to turn stable renters into the city’s next wave of unhoused. That fear is far from theoretical: Toronto’s mayor has publicly warned the bill “threatens the rights of renters in our city.” With half the city’s population renting, critics argue the timing amid already skyrocketing rents and tight vacancy could trigger a wave of displacement.&nbsp;At first glance, Bill 60 is sold as a pro-housing, pro-supply measure. But the debate around it reveals a deeper tension: between the mechanics of supply, which include building new units, streamlining LTB processes, and the stability of tenants already living in the market.Legal experts point out that while rent-control protections and core tenancy rights remain technically intact, the procedural overhaul radically shifts power toward landlords. Eviction becomes easier, appeals narrower, defense more expensive and more difficult. For vulnerable renters, low-income individuals, newcomers, older tenants, people with chronic illness or precarious employment (as many GTA residents are), this erosion of procedural protection could mean a loss of safety far more important than having more units built years down the road.Indeed, critics describe Bill 60 as a “gift to landlords and developers,” not a remedy for affordability. Moreover, the removal of relocation compensation when landlords reclaim units for personal use removes a modest but vital buffer for displaced tenants, especially at a time when comparable rents in the GTA often exceed what many broke renters can afford.&nbsp;In short: rather than stabilizing the rental market, Bill 60 seems more likely to accelerate turnover, turn rental units faster, raise rents, and destabilize long-term tenants, under the banner of “efficiency.”Though the legislation still retains core protections, such as rent control and indefinite leases, the practical barriers to enforcing those protections have risen sharply. For renters with limited resources, limited time, or limited legal knowledge: that may be the difference between staying housed and being thrown out.But not everyone sees it that way. Many landlords argue that Bill 60 is not a big deal and from their vantage point, the changes look modest, reasonable, even overdue.The Landlord Case: Efficiency, Fairness, and the “Professional Tenant” ProblemAccording to landlord voices:<ul><li>The new requirement that tenants pay 50% of claimed rent arrears before raising maintenance issues in a non-payment hearing is not seen as a removal of rights. “This was a common delay tactic for professional tenants,” they argue; legitimate maintenance concerns can still be pursued via a separate application (a “T6”). They see no valid reason for protest over that.&nbsp;</li><li>Shortening the time for an N4 (non-payment) notice, from 14 days to 7, again draws little ire. Landlords notes many tenants are paid bi-weekly anyway, and claims that speeding up eviction for non-payment may actually discourage late payment or misuse of hearing delays.&nbsp;</li><li>Removing LTB compensation for “own-use” evictions (N12/N13) under the 120-day notice rule isn’t viewed as a major loss. The logic: under older rules tenants often stayed until the hearing date hoping for compensation, so removal may simply remove a leverage point more often abused than used in good-faith relocations.</li><li>Cutting appeal and review windows from 30 to 15 days is argued to be reasonable, enough time for tenants who care to act, without unduly delaying landlords who want their units back.&nbsp;</li></ul>Fundamentally, many landlords see Bill 60 not as a destructive overhaul, but as a recalibration: one that trims procedural loopholes, weeds out chronic late-payers (or “professional tenants”), and restores balance to a system they feel had become heavily skewed in favor of tenants.&nbsp;From their perspective the bill may even help unlock more housing supply. One landlord boasting he plans to “clean up and put my rental back on the market,” even says he’s willing to lower rent by $100 to re-let it quickly, suggesting the new efficiencies might nudge rental prices down.&nbsp;Many landlords critique of the public discourse around Bill 60, including media and activist responses, calling it a knee-jerk reactions or “misinformation”.&nbsp;For some, the “real problem” is the LTB backlog and understaffing, not landlord rights. Speeding up eviction-related hearings, especially non-payment cases which dominate the backlog, could actually benefit tenants who pay on time, by freeing up board capacity to handle maintenance or harassment cases more promptly. “Getting these cases to move faster will free up apartments for tenants who actually pay the rent,” asserts one commenter.A few even argue that the uproar over Bill 60 is unfairly conflating this bill with earlier versions that proposed far more sweeping reforms (e.g. eliminating default month-to-month renewals). They contend the fiercest fears stem from earlier drafts, not from what was actually passed.&nbsp;In this view, Bill 60 is less a landlord “power-grab” and more a necessary course correction: cleaning up technical inefficiencies, reducing abuse, and returning some default procedural fairness, especially for landlords who’ve seen non-payment drag out for months due to strategic delays.Bringing the landlord vantage point into the broader discussion complicates things. Not because it absolves Bill 60 of criticism, but because it reveals exactly where tensions lie: not always over the letter of the law, but over perceptions of fairness, past abuses, and faith in institutions like the LTB.So what’s next for renters? Bill 60 is now law. Many of its tenancy-related changes kick in on Royal Assent or shortly after. For renters in the greater Toronto area, where vacancy rates are low, affordability is a crisis, and turnover already high, this means you’ll need to act fast the moment troubles arise. Document everything: maintenance problems, communications with landlords, proof of rent payments, bank statements. Be ready to pay arrears quickly if you want to raise other issues at the LTB.Tenant-advocacy groups and legal clinics are already mobilizing to provide resources and guidance. If you rent now, it may be wise to get in touch with one, especially if you live in an older building, on the margins of affordability, or rely on social services.More broadly: expect heightened pressure on the rental market. Units may turn over faster. Landlords may aim to re-list vacated units at higher rents. Long-term stability for tenants may become rarer and rental turnover more common. And if the history of eviction-driven rent hikes holds, the outcome may be ever-higher rents and likely a new wave of homelessness.It seems that the real divide is Stability vs. Efficiency. Landlords value procedural speed, while Renters value housing stability.&nbsp;Bill 60 decisively favors the former. Renters in the GTA are not panicking because the bill is long or complex. They’re panicking because they live in a market where a forced move often means financial ruin.A landlord might re-list a unit for $2,400. A tenant priced out of their neighborhood may be looking at $3,600 elsewhere.&nbsp;Bill 60 is not merely a legal change; it is a stress test for a fragile housing ecosystem. For renters in Toronto and across Ontario, it may mark the beginning of a tougher rental environment: faster evictions, harder defenses, and fewer guarantees. The argument that it will unlock rental supply may hold in theory, but for many tenants, it feels more like the opening act of a housing purge. For landlords, this is a welcomed (and moderate) change that eliminates procedurals loopholes used by “professional tenants”.If Ontario wants a truly healthy housing system, it needs more than speed though. It needs rights, protections, and a recognition that stability is as essential to affordability as supply.

Bill 60: A Quiet Overhaul of Tenant Rights and a Loud Reaction

Bill 60 reshapes Ontario’s rental landscape, speeding evictions and dividing renters and landlords over fairness, stability, and housing impact.

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