Rental Housing: Everyone Deserves a Safe Place to Call Home
As I have been on the campaign trail, I have spoken to many residents who have raised concerns about the condition and safety of rental housing in our city. Everyone deserves to know that the place they call home is safe, and tenants shouldn't have to guess whether a rental property meets basic safety standards.
Mississauga needs a modern approach to rooming-house enforcement that puts safety first. Multi-tenant rentals can provide important housing options, and the focus should be on making sure they are safe.
As Mayor, I will replace Mississauga's current lodging-house licensing regime with a more modern and detailed system that uses safety standards, including electrical, plumbing, and fire-code requirements, to determine how many people a property can safely accommodate.
The higher the occupancy, the stronger the enforcement should be. Properties with higher occupancy levels would face more stringent measures, including annual inspections, to ensure that safety standards are being maintained.
Tenants and neighbours should also have greater transparency. I will create a publicly searchable Safe Occupancy Certificate registry that shows whether a property is licensed and the maximum number of tenants it can accommodate.
We also need to make it easier for tenants to report potential illegal or unsafe conditions. I will create a joint Mississauga-Peel Safe Rental enforcement and tenant-support team that provides a single point of contact for complaints. The team would determine which jurisdiction is responsible and assign a staff member to review or inspect the property.
Safe housing should not be a privilege. We can protect tenants and neighbours without creating unnecessary barriers for landlords who want to provide rental housing.
As Mayor, I will make sure Mississauga has a rental enforcement system that is modern, transparent, and focused on safety. Our goal should be simple: safer rental housing and stronger protections for the people who live in it.
