RentSafeTO: Public Education Campaign

Last month, Municipal Licensing & Standards (MLS) launched a public education campaign regarding RentSafeTO – the City's apartment building standards program – to ensure property managers know the current building maintenance standards and tenants understand their rights and responsibilities.

Over the last year, MLS has redesigned the building evaluation tool to prioritize high-impact health and safety issues for staff investigation. The tool will also factor ongoing violations and issues of non-compliance into a building’s evaluation score. All apartment buildings registered with the RentSafeTO program are mandated to undergo a building evaluation. Whereas the previous evaluation schedule was based on past scores, apartment buildings with three or more storeys or ten or more units will now be evaluated every two years. 

Through the public education campaign, tenants and property managers can:
•    Learn more about the changes to the evaluation tool; 
•    Find out how a building score is calculated; and
•    View the updated interactive map for the 2023 building evaluation scores.

Tenants who are facing issues with their rental apartment are encouraged to contact their landlord or property owner first. If the complaint remains unresolved, you can create a service request to the RentSafeTO program through the 311 online portal or by calling 311.