Province halts new evictions, postpones scheduled orders due to COVID-19

“In addition, Sheriff’s offices have been asked to postpone any scheduled enforcement of eviction orders currently set for this week,” she added.

The news comes as tenant advocates pushed for the province to freeze evictions, a move that several U.S. cities, including New York and San Francisco, have already made.

Freelance illustrator and artist Paterson Hodgson called it “a no-brainer” and said she’d also like to see a rent freeze.

She said there’s a lot of worry amongst the neighbours in her highrise building. Many are facing reduced hours if not layoffs, as well as the “financial burden” of stocking up for possible self-isolation.

“The idea that someone could have no home during these very unsure times is very scary,” she said, in an interview before the decision.

Parkdale legal clinic worker Cole Webber joined legal clinic workers, lawyers and other advocates in the city in sending a letter to the Ministry of the Attorney General and the executive chair of Tribunals Ontario on Sunday calling for an immediate eviction freeze “in the midst of a pandemic.”

It was not immediately clear how long scheduled enforcement of eviction orders would be postponed for.

Benjamin Ries, a lawyer and member of the Greater Toronto Clinic Housing Advocates, who signed off on the letter, said in an interview before the decision was made that there is firstly a “fairness issue, with people losing income for reasons that are entirely beyond their control.”

But there’s also a public health reason to stop evictions.

There’s “overwhelming evidence” that homelessness, even temporarily, leads to an increase in emergency room visits and hospitalization, and there’s also some evidence it can lead to incarceration, Ries said.

May Warren is a breaking news reporter based in Toronto. Follow her on Twitter: @maywarren11