Sarnia council has unanimously directed staff to conduct an in-depth review into the ever increasing problem of renovictions.
A renoviction is when a landlord evicts a tenant to renovate a unit.
Councillor Anne Marie Gillis felt the review should be pursued from a "moral perspective."
"Such a review could include engaging external legal counsel, but I think it's something we should be prepared for because this is just going to continue and we're going to end up having more people on the streets, more senior citizens on the streets, and we have no recourse to it," said Gillis.
Councillor Terry Burrell expressed some initial concern before endorsing the direction.
"It is a provincial jurisdiction, not a city jurisdiction," Burrell said. "Even the bigger cities, like Ottawa, are finding that they can't do anything about it. Seems to me we're going to spend a lot of money on legal fees trying to find loopholes, or whatever, and may end up in lawsuits with landlords."
Councillor Gillis then highlighted information provided to council by staff.
"The goal of a bylaw addressing renovictions would be to preserve affordable housing and reduce the number of citizens facing homelessness," Gillis read from the staff report. "Municipalities may be able to implement complimentary bylaws addressing renovictions."
She said council could also raise the issue before the Association of Municipalities Ontario [AMO] and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities [FCM].
Mayor Mike Bradley asked that staff control the process and "ensure it doesn't become a runaway train."
"I think there's a lot of linkage with other communities, because this is a substantial issue in this community and across the province and country," Bradley said.
City staff reported that they were aware of three citizen complaints regarding renovictions. One was related to a property standards complaint, and two were related to a building code violation.
In addition to investigating legalities, the effect on various departments, amendments to pre-existing bylaws and other financial implications will be researched.
