Report on backlog at Landlord and Tenant Board says Ontario government seems willing to let situation 'fester'

A group that keeps tabs on Ontario's tribunals is speaking out about a backlog at the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB).

In a new report, Tribunal Watch Ontario says there were 53,000 unresolved cases at the LTB as of March 2023 — impacting at least one million Ontarians. The LTB resolves disputes between landlords and tenants.

The group's president, Kathy Laird, says the LTB has been failing for years and the situation is getting worse.

"We're seeing a situation where this backlog has accumulated and it's affecting an enormous amount of people," Laird told CBC News.

"It is extraordinary that the government seems to be willing to just let the situation fester."

Laird, a retired human rights lawyer, said the board used to handle about 80,000 applications a year but has been handling fewer applications every year since the Progressive Conservatives formed government in 2018.

The LTB has twice as many adjudicators and received more funding, Laird said. But in the past three years, its annual caseload has dropped by more than 50,000 from what it once was.

"The caseload is going down, the resources are going way up, the backlog is going up and the number of cases resolved every year is going down," she said. "What gives?"

Tribunal Watch Ontario believes the provincial government needs to step in, Laird said.

A spokesperson for the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General says work is ongoing to streamline the process at the LTB.

"The Ministry of the Attorney General, Tribunals Ontario and the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) have been working to address the accumulation of active cases before the Board," Natasha Krstajic wrote in an email to CBC News.

"The Ministry of the Attorney General continues to work with Tribunals Ontario to ensure the appropriate level of adjudicator resources at the LTB."

Last May, a report published by provincial ombudsman Paul Dubé found the LTB was "fundamentally failing" to fulfil its mandate. The report noted tenants sometimes faced "insurmountable challenges" accessing online hearings, adding that many do not have access to phones or computers.

Since the release of that report, the Ontario government has made 38 full-time appointments and 27 part-time appointments to the LTB, Krstajic said.