Housing Rights Advisory Committee Holds Final Meeting of Term

The Housing Rights Advisory Committee held its 12th and final meeting of the term, focusing on the city's right-to-housing work, reforms to the response to vital service outages in multi-tenant homes, and a new item on supportive housing to address homelessness. The committee also voted to ask the Housing Secretariat to take steps to reestablish the committee after the 2026 municipal election.

Topics Discussed

• RIGHT TO HOUSING AND COMMITTEE WRAP-UP: Members reflected on the committee's term and on how a rights-based approach should shape city work. Councillor Gord Perks said the committee was created after council decided to include housing rights in the Toronto Housing Charter and action plan: "Council said let's include this in the Toronto housing charter. Let's put this in our action plan and let's put something in place called the housing rights advisory committee." Rachel Chernos Lin said the city should also make it easier for people with lived experience to participate: "How can we make it easier for people with lived experience to come to this committee and tell their truth and feel supported in doing that?"

• VITAL SERVICE OUTAGES IN MULTI-TENANT HOMES: Staff discussed changes made after Ombudsman Toronto examined a case where tenants in a multi-tenant home lost vital services for an extended period. The Housing Secretariat said one of the main findings was that "the relationship between the EPIC program and MLS and Toronto Emergency Management" was unclear, and that "referral pathways weren't clear, policies weren't documented about how these cases were meant to be supported." Staff also said Toronto Emergency Management has updated some public communications and established "an activation policy with MLS in the event of a vital service outage that has rendered a home uninhabitable or that might result in potential tenant displacement."

• EPIC, EMERGENCY RESPONSE AND REFERRAL PATHWAYS: Committee members pressed staff on who is responsible when tenants need emergency accommodation or rehousing. Staff said work is continuing but that a broader policy update is constrained by the council term calendar. An MLS representative said emergency management policy work is "tracking to Q1 2027" and added, "we are kind of constrained by that. But yes, the work is ongoing." The discussion returned repeatedly to accountability. Perks said, "Well, there's a booklength essay that could be written on who's responsible here. Um, at the end of the day, um, it's city council who would would have responsibility."

• OMBUDSMAN TORONTO HOUSING UNIT — THREE YEARS IN REVIEW: The committee heard about the Ombudsman's housing unit and its rights-based oversight of housing issues. Speakers stressed the stakes of delays in housing and service responses. One participant said, "people die waiting," and Reema Patel added, "And we all need to move a little bit faster because when we don't, people die along the way."

• SUPPORTIVE HOUSING AND HOMELESSNESS (HS12.4): The committee added and prioritized a new business item, "Advancing More Supportive Housing to Address Homelessness and Create Pathways to Long-Term Housing Stability." Submitted recommendations called for expanding permanent supportive housing, including modular delivery and wraparound supports. Lindsey Lemieux said, "A key gap in the current system is a lack of appropriate supportive housing for individuals exiting homelessness, particularly those living with complex mental health and addiction challenges." A written recommendation from the Housing Rights Advisory Committee said, "The city must continue to advance a permanent supportive housing model built rapidly using prefabricated modular units and paired with wraparound supports."

Motions

• Reestablishment of the Housing Rights Advisory Committee following the 2026 municipal election — Passed unanimously. The motion requested the Executive Director of the Housing Secretariat to undertake the necessary steps to recommend reestablishment of the committee for the next municipal term, and that Executive Committee receive the item for information.

Attendees

• Elizabeth McKisac (Chair)
• Gord Perks
• Rachel Chernos Lin
• Neethan Shan
• Lindsey Lemieux

Note: The provided notes do not include a complete attendance list, so only members specifically identified in the materials are listed here.