Your first stop for self-help is a review of our FAQs. Take a look at the ever increasing collection of questions asked by Ontario’s small-scale landlords as well as the actual answers provided by Landlord’s Self-Help Centre.
When a tenant falls under a protected grounds in the Ontario Human Rights Code (for example: disability, family status, creed, etc.) and those grounds affect how they live in a rental unit, the landlord has a duty to accommodate or make special provisions based on those needs up to the point of undue hardship. If a tenant shows that they were treated unfairly because of a code-related need, the burden shifts to the Landlord to prove that they tried to accommodate the tenant as much as possible. This means the landlord must show real efforts were made to adjust rules, communication, or the living environment so the tenant can properly use and enjoy their home, unless doing so would cause serious cost to the landlord or serious health and safety risks.
Caselaw makes it clear that undue hardship is a very high threshold. It is not inconvenience, frustration, extra work or minor cost for the landlord. The law recognizes various factors for the assessment of undue hardship such as serious costs to the landlord, outside sources of funding, and health and safety risks. If a landlord is claiming undue hardship, they must provide evidence of all three factors. Opinion of the landlord will not be enough.
There are different situations that can arise as a result of a person’s age, religion, marital status, immigration status, ethnic status, sexual or racial identity or family obligations or other factors listed in the Code.
A Landlord only has a duty to accommodate Code-related needs, meaning an issue related to one of the protected grounds in the Ontario Human Rights Code (most commonly but not exclusive to: disability, family status and age).
The duty to accommodate is not unlimited. The limit to the duty to accommodate is called “undue hardship”. In this circumstance, installing a temporary ramp maybe a reasonable accommodation, whereas installing an elevator may not.
The duty to accommodate is not unlimited. Landlords have a duty to accommodate tenants unless to do so would cause the landlord undue hardship. You must consider costs, outside sources of funding, if any, and health and safety requirements. A landlord is not required to accommodate a person’s needs beyond the point of undue hardship.
Landlords have a duty to accommodate tenants with special needs unless to do so would cause undue hardship. The Human Rights Code takes precedence over other legislation. Therefore, even if the City is telling you that you’re not required to build the ramp you will still have to follow the Code requirements.