Ontario Pauses Residential Evictions Again

On January 13, 2021 the Province filed Ontario Regulation 13/21
under the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act with respect to
residential evictions.   The effect of the Regulation is to
prevent the enforcement of an Order issued under the Residential Tenancies
Act, 2006 to evict a tenant.  Currently, the Regulation is in
effect from January 13, 2021 to January 27, 2021 (the anticipated end of the
provincial statement of emergency), unless it is extended.  The
Regulation carves out the ability for the Landlord Tenant Board to direct the
Sheriff to enforce an Order, despite the ban. The Board’s discretion in
this regard is likely to be used in cases of serious impairment or safety or
illegal act cases, but is not specifically limited to those issues.

A copy of the Regulation is available at https://www.ontario.ca/laws/regulation/210013.

The Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing released a
statement this morning with respect to the ban on evictions and a link to that
report is available at https://news.ontario.ca/en/release/59947/ontario-temporarily-pauses-residential-evictions.  Steve Clark, the Minister of
Municipal Affairs and Housing, said “Our government will ensure that
residential evictions continue to be paused for the remainder of the state of
emergency, as long as it lasts”.

The Landlord and Tenant Board website indicates that it will
continue to provide services to the public, even though all in-person service
counters remain closed.