Rent Is Due Today & Ontario Is Allowing Evictions Again For The First Time In Months

It's time to pay up. The first of the month for tenants usually means that rent is due. In Ontario, eviction rules are changing again and that could present new challenges amid the ongoing pandemic. 

The official opposition, the NDP, says that since the state of emergency for the province ended on July 24, renters are no longer protected from evictions. 

The measure that prevented landlords from kicking people out of their units was originally put in place at the start of the pandemic to protect people whose income was affected by COVID-19. 

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Now, in a statement, the NDP says this move will create "a perfect storm for thousands of evictions to begin this weekend." 

They say that with evictions being allowed again as of August 1, it could be bad news for people who are still feeling the effects of the pandemic. 

"Millions of people have lost jobs and wages as a result of COVID-19, and for so many, the struggle is far from over," the party's tenant rights critic, Suze Morrison said. "Yet the Ford government has orchestrated this perfect storm – a way for landlords to easily toss people onto the street, despite the ongoing pandemic."

The party is calling on the Ford government to extend the ban on evictions now. 

They even have a petition on their website calling for evictions to be made illegal during COVID-19. 

The Canadian Press reported, via CTV, that a spokesperson for the Premier, Ivana Yelich, says eviction orders are going out now but they are mostly ones that were pending prior to the pandemic. 

The government also passed Bill 184, which they say will reduce unlawful evictions and make it necessary for landlords to explore repayment plans before just kicking someone out. 

Yelich said this bill helps tenants rather than harming them since it "reinforces to landlords the necessity of exploring repayment agreements and maintaining tenancies -- rather than resorting to evictions."

As Canada flattens its curve a number of measures are being lifted across the country. 

Most recently, Prime Minister Trudeau announced that his government is hoping to transition everyone off of the CERB soon.