Ontario’s Bill 60 just passed, bringing major eviction and rental housing changes for landlords and tenants
On November 24, 2025, Ontario passed Bill 60 amid dramatic protests at Queen’s Park. Demonstrators chanted “people over profit” from the public gallery while Premier Doug Ford told them to “go find a job.” The vote was 71-43.
For landlords and tenants in Lanark County and Northern Leeds Grenville, the changes are now in effect—impacting rental relationships in communities from Smiths Falls to Perth, Carleton Place to Merrickville.
The bill, officially called the “Fighting Delays, Building Faster Act,” changes how evictions work in Ontario. The government says it will speed up the Landlord and Tenant Board and increase housing supply. Critics say it will push vulnerable tenants into homelessness.
Here’s what changed and what it means for Ontario’s rental market.
The timeline for evictions just got shorter
Landlords can now file to evict tenants seven days after providing notice for non-payment of rent. The previous waiting period was 15 days.
Tenants also have less time to appeal. They now have 15 days to challenge an eviction order, down from 30 days.
The government argues these changes will reduce delays at the Landlord and Tenant Board, which receives over 100,000 applications annually. But tenant advocates point out that wait times for tenant applications are already twice as long as landlord applications.
The faster timeline creates pressure on both sides, but tenants face the steeper challenge. Missing a deadline by even a few days can mean losing your home.
In smaller communities like those across Lanark County and Northern Leeds Grenville, where legal resources and tenant support services are less accessible than in larger cities, these shortened timelines create additional challenges for renters trying to navigate the system.
Tenants must now pay to defend themselves
One of the most controversial changes requires tenants to pay at least 50% of the claimed overdue rent if they want to raise issues at an eviction hearing.
This assumes tenants actually owe the money before the matter is even heard.
If you’re a tenant facing eviction because your landlord claims you owe $2,000, you now need to pay $1,000 just to argue your case. This applies even if you have legitimate disputes about the amount owed or if your landlord failed to maintain the unit.
For tenants living paycheck to paycheck, this creates an impossible barrier. You either pay money you might not owe, or you lose the right to defend yourself.
Compensation for personal-use evictions has been eliminated
Landlords who evict tenants for personal use no longer need to compensate them if they provide 120 days notice.
Previously, landlords had to pay tenants one month’s rent in these situations.
This change affects tenants who are evicted because a landlord or their family member wants to move into the unit. The extended notice period is supposed to give tenants more time to find new housing, but in a market where vacancy rates for lower-priced units are less than 1% in most urban centers, time doesn’t solve the affordability problem.
In Lanark County and Northern Leeds Grenville, the rental market is even tighter. Smaller communities like Perth, Smiths Falls, and Carleton Place have limited rental stock, and affordable units are scarce. When a tenant loses their rental, finding another place locally can mean competing for a handful of available units—or being forced to leave the community entirely.
The fast-track process skipped consultation
The government fast-tracked Bill 60, limiting debate and skipping the committee review stage.
Over 130 organizations signed an open letter warning that the changes would deepen Ontario’s housing and homelessness crisis. They didn’t get adequate opportunities to raise their concerns.
Diana Chan McNally, a housing advocate, called it the “create encampments faster act.” She argues it will force Ontarians onto the street through no fault of their own.
The context matters here. Ontario recorded over 81,500 people experiencing homelessness in 2024, a 25% increase since 2022 according to the Association of Municipalities of Ontario.
While rural communities in Lanark County and Northern Leeds Grenville may not see visible encampments as large as in larger cities, housing instability looks different here. It means families doubling up in small apartments, people couch-surfing with friends and relatives, or individuals forced to leave their support networks to find housing elsewhere.
The real estate industry sees this differently
“Bill 60 will speed up hearings, improve procedures for rent arrears, streamline adjudication processes, and place greater emphasis on reducing systemic delays at the LTB,” said Elechia Barry-Sproule, TRREB President.
Housing Minister Rob Flack says the logic is simple: “With more supply comes lower rents.”
The industry argues that removing barriers for landlords will encourage more rental housing construction. They point to rising rental housing starts since 2016 as evidence that deregulation works.
But the data tells a more complicated story.
Previous deregulation didn’t deliver affordable housing
Ontario removed rent control for units first occupied after November 2018. The promise was that it would increase rental housing supply and benefit renters.
Rental housing starts did continue to increase, but new units failed to meet the demand for affordable housing. Most came with rents that average Ontarians can’t afford.
In 2024, vacancy rates for lower-priced units were less than 1% in the majority of urban centers across the province.
Building more housing helps, but only if people can actually afford to live in it.
What this means for landlords in Lanark County and Northern Leeds Grenville
You now have faster access to eviction proceedings and shorter waiting periods. The Landlord and Tenant Board should process cases more quickly, reducing the financial strain of non-paying tenants.
For local landlords, whether you own a rental property in Smiths Falls, a duplex in Carleton Place, or a small apartment building in Perth, these changes offer more leverage. In smaller markets where tenant relationships often last years, the faster process may feel like a significant shift.
The 50% payment requirement gives you more leverage in arrears cases. Tenants who can’t pay up front will have fewer options to delay proceedings.
But speed cuts both ways. If you make mistakes in your paperwork or fail to follow proper procedures, tenants will have less time to point out errors before an eviction order is issued. That means you need to be more careful about documentation and following the rules correctly the first time.
What this means for tenants in Lanark County and Northern Leeds Grenville
You have less time to respond to eviction notices and less time to appeal decisions. Missing rent by even a few days can trigger a process that moves faster than before.
If you’re renting in a community like Merrickville, Westport, or Lanark Village, these communities usually do not have legal aid services and tenant advocacy organizations like larger centres. The compressed timelines mean you have less room for error when responding to notices or gathering documentation.
If you want to raise maintenance issues or dispute the amount owed, you need to come up with 50% of the claimed arrears upfront. This applies even if you believe the landlord’s claim is wrong.
The removal of compensation for personal-use evictions means you’ll need to save more money as a buffer. Four months’ notice doesn’t help if you can’t find an affordable place to move, especially in markets where rental turnover is low, and word-of-mouth often determines who gets the next available unit.
The bigger question nobody’s answering
Bill 60 assumes the housing crisis is primarily a supply problem that can be solved by making it easier to evict tenants and build faster.
But Ontario’s homelessness rate increased 25% in two years. Vacancy rates for affordable units sit below 1%. And previous attempts to boost supply through deregulation produced market-rate housing that most renters can’t afford.
The bill speeds up evictions without addressing where evicted tenants will go. It removes financial protections without creating new affordable housing options. It assumes that making life harder for tenants will somehow make housing more accessible.
The real estate industry celebrates the changes. Tenant advocates predict disaster. And somewhere in between, thousands of Ontario renters are trying to figure out what this means for their ability to keep a roof over their heads.
The law is now in effect. The question is whether it will deliver the housing stability Ontario needs, or whether it will simply move people from apartments to encampments faster than before.
Keep connected—Read the latest from The Wider Lens.
