‘Digital divide,’ delays in justice noted in virtual landlord and tenant hearings: advocate

Ontario tenants, particularly those of lower incomes, are facing significant impacts due to delays related to the Landlord and Tenant Board tribunal system and virtual hearings, according to an advocate.

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These challenges can lead to individuals and families losing their units, sometimes when agreements could have been reached more informally, said Douglas Kwan, director of advocacy and legal services, for the Advocacy Center for Tenants Ontario.

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Kwan was providing an update on the situation to Chatham-Kent councilors during a recent meeting, noting there are numerous issues within the current system.

He said a “digital divide” was created through the remote service model, which was implemented in 2020 and remains in place.

“All in-person services were removed. The regional centers were closed down,” he said. “Everything was moved to Zoom, which presented another barrier for people.”

Internet speed is a concern, with Kwan citing a Deloitte study that said only 39 per cent of households earning less than $40,000 a year met the CRTC minimum broadband speed recommendation. This resulted in some tenants having to participate in their hearings by telephone.

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Kwan touched on the ombudsman’s report that outlined other inequalities, such as technical difficulties.

“Virtual hearings were chaotic, with participants struggling and sometimes failing to join their hearing, or losing audio connection partway through,” he said, adding there are sometimes problems with sharing online documents.

“We had one tenant who participated on the phone, and was thinking they were talking to a mediator. But in fact, they were talking to their landlord, and telling all of the details of how they arrived at the board.”

Delays in receiving a hearing can stretch into years, he said, with a couple of applications even going back to 2017.

Kwan said these barriers have worsened the housing crisis within the province.

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He said whenever a person, who isn’t in social housing, loses a unit that’s affordable, it becomes lost forever to market rent.

“The digital divide has also prevented people from having those ‘hallway conversations,’” ​​he said. “We all know the benefit of having in-person meetings … I can’t highlight how important that was in terms of resolving matters, so that it wouldn’t go to merit hearings. It wouldn’t increase the backlog.”

The board has attempted to ease matters by increasing the number of adjudicators, implementing mobile computer terminals and having a phone pilot program, but doesn’t believe those will solve the problem.

He said Chatham-Kent has different housing challenges than Toronto and other large cities, requiring a different approach.

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His presentation concluded with the following recommendations to improve service:

• Move forward with the ombudsman’s recommendations.
• Reinstate in-person hearings.
• Reopen regional offices.
• Create a navigator program to connect with parties prior to their hearing.
• Tribunals Ontario should collect data and proactively seek feedback from users.
• Board should return to a regional scheduling model.

Council unanimously approved that a letter be sent to local MPPs, the executive chair of Tribunals Ontario, the attorney general, the minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, and the premier, and copied to all municipalities, requesting the province immediately move forward on recommendations of the ombudsman’s report, to help preserve tenancies, affordable units, and the safety and security of landlords and tenants.

Chatham Coun. Alysson Storey called the information sobering, especially given the hardships vulnerable people already face.

“A lot of it is deeply disappointing, deeply disturbing, to think about how many folks in our local communities and around Ontario are not having their needs met,” she said. “We speak literally every council meeting about the critical issues we’re facing with our housing sector.

“A lot of these issues seem to be relatively easy to remediate. … It’s definitely frustrating to hear this is still an issue. And it seems to be getting worse.”

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