Landlord-tenant adjudicators added by Ontario government will be virtual only

The 40 new adjudicators being added to Ontario's Landlord Tenant Board (LTB) as part of a new provincial act will preside over virtual-only hearings, and not be designated to serve any particular part of the province, Tribunals Ontario says.

Housing Minister Steve Clark announced the additional staff as part of the Helping Homebuyers, Protecting Tenants Act introduced Wednesday—beefing up the quasi-judicial system that resolves disputes between residential landlords and tenants, including evictions.

This continues a method of delivery that began during the pandemic, and should make attending hearings easier for people in remote and rural areas of the province, including northern Ontario, Janet Deline, a spokesperson with Tribunals Ontario, told CBC News.

It could also help ease a bottleneck of cases that has pushed hearings back months, if not years. 

"By holding hearings online and moving away from a regional in-person scheduling model, it allows more scheduling flexibility and to maximize the coverage of an adjudicator across the province," Deline said.

Since the pandemic, most LTB hearings have moved away from in-person hearings and gone to virtual-only, she added. 

"Virtual hearings have increased access to justice for many individuals.The time to travel, time off work, and childcare expenses are often reported as challenges to accessing justice."

"These challenges are exacerbated in remote and rural regions, where travel distances can be significant," Deline said.

According to Tribunal Watch Ontario, a non-partisan public interest organization, LTB receives about 80,000 applications for hearings each year across the province. The majority of applications, over 90 per cent, are landlord eviction applications, the group says. 

Tribunals Ontario, the umbrella organization of 13 adjudicative tribunals that administer justice, said its 2022 annual report shows the LTB had 32,800 "active cases at year end."

Sudbury landlord says more adjudicators a good addition

In Sudbury, at least one landlord is applauding the province's move to ease the backlog of eviction cases at the LTB.

Tristan Ritchie, who along with being a realtor, owns eight properties in Sudbury, said he's had several instances where he's had to turn to the LTB to evict tenants, usually for failure to pay rent.

Once that eviction notice—a common one is referred to as an "N-4" form—is issued by the landlord, the process can stretch months, even years before a resolution.

Ritchie said it's an arduous waiting game that usually doesn't end up with the landlord recouping their lost earnings.

"Every investor's biggest fear is to have to go to the LTB," Ritchie said. "Just because of the timeline, it's not even the money part."

"It's just the uncertainty and not knowing where it's going to lead, and it's probably not even in your favour."

I just gave up on it.- Tristan Ritchie, Sudbury realtor and landlord

Once the process begins, tenants are not obliged to leave the premises until their case is heard before the tribunal. 

With soaring rents and high interests, some property owners could face losses of tens of thousands of dollars. Recouping lost rent involves an entirely different process in small claims court. 

Landlords can apply to garnish wages from a former tenant. Ritchie said he's gone through that process only once and received $200, but that arrangement ends if the person gets a new job. If the landlord wishes to continue garnishing wages, the process begins anew.

Many landlords won't pursue garnish arrangements unless it's a "large chunk" of money owed, Ritchie said.

In his own cases, including one where a tenant left while owing $3,500, Ritchie said he's often let arrears go by without pursuing repayments.

"I just gave up on it. He probably needs $3,500 more than I do."