Record Number of Evictions This Year

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👩🏻 Top insight from me, Co-Founder Weiting

47 of you had the exclusive opportunity to sit down with an Ontario Sheriff on Wednesday night. For me, to say it was informational is putting it lightly.

My team has produced the 57 questions we asked the Sheriff into Openroom University so you can learn what we learned.

The community asked about hiring, timing, items, pets, police, security, locksmith, bankruptcy - and our Subject Matter Expert gave answers.

I believe in education. The more we can share knowledge, the more we can make informed decisions to better the rental ecosystem.

The opportunity for us to have a chat with a Sheriff is not about blaming or shaming tenants or landlords.

Eviction is a sensitive topic.

We’re here to talk about the realities and legal processes around evictions, especially from the perspective of enforcement. The goal is to understand the system better - not to point fingers, but to have a constructive, informed discussion.

When I talk about Sheriff, here are the equivalents in some of the other provinces. Today, you’ll be learning a bit more about Ontario.

These were my top 3:

#1: 🚨 Record Numbers of Evictions

Many of you have messaged in to tell me that your wait times to get to a vacant repossession of your rental unit are now at 3 months out. That’s a long time to wait if you have non-payment of rent and damages piling up.

Sheriff shared with us:

“All sheriffs offices are doing record numbers. Up about 40% from last year. York, Durham, Peel, and GTA areas are extremely busy and may near 800 evictions already in each office. This year, we are on record numbers compared to last year and the years before, and it keeps going up, with the same amount of staff.”

I know it can be frustrating to wait, but please know that the sheriffs are doing their best to reach everyone as quickly as possible. Your patience is truly appreciated.

#2: 🏚 Sheriff has many duties beyond evictions

I thought that an Ontario Sheriff’s only duty was to enforce evictions. I was completely wrong!

Sheriff’s officers have a range of duties beyond conducting evictions. These include actioning on writs of possessions, child extractions, and restraining orders.

While you might think that your issue surrounding a tenant eviction is the most pressing one at hand, it might not be.

There are even expedited LTB matters that will be given priority such as in cases when there are illegal activity, damages, impaired safety, reasonable enjoyment, overcrowding, and misrepresentation of incomes.

The thing is, you have to know how to request it, and that’s where legal professionals who specialize in the tribunal matters come in the play.

See all of the legal subject matter experts who align with Openroom’s vision to build a transparent rental ecosystem.

They use our services such as the rental debt ledger, contribute into the Openroom court order search system, and refer their community to Openroom all of the time.

But most importantly, they uphold ethical standards and fight for their clients - landlord or tenant.

Each of them are recommended by Co-Founder Vishal and myself because we’ve built a relationship with them over the years.

#3: 📌 What you should know

Paul R., an Openroom Community Member asked:

“Why are there different waiting times for evictions in different judicial districts in Ontario? Can the sheriff resources be redeployed across judicial districts, and or overtime be authorized and or temporary officers appointed to equalize or reduce waiting times?”

The Sheriff said:

“Waiting times vary due to staffing levels and volume in each district. Overtime is always authorized; we do a lot of it daily and often don't take breaks. We have trained designates to assist if someone is ill, but they cannot do it alone; they are like special constables and don't have the full authority. We do go to different jurisdictions or judicial districts and help each other as much as we can. If a busy area calls, they send a blanket email, and available officers from other areas volunteer to come.”

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p.s. Now that the election is behind us, let's watch Prime Minister Carney closely to ensure he represents us appropriately. Thank you for caring about Canada in last month's election - voter turnout was high and that is always a good sign.

Weiting Bollu
Mom, Rental Housing Provider, Rental Housing Advocate, Educator, and Openroom Co-Founder & CEO