Rally against illegal rooming houses looks to counter landlord registration protests in Brampton

Residents in favour of the city’s new landlord registration rules are coming together to call for more enforcement and a pause on new additional rental units in Brampton.

This Sunday picketers will gather in Ken Whillans Square to show their support for the city’s Residential Rental Licensing pilot program and speak out against “illegal rooming houses,” according to posters and flyers seen around Brampton and on social media.

The event is planned to counter ongoing protests by property owners opposed to the regulations which require any rental property owner with up to four residential units to register with the city for an annual fee.

“It’s time to come together to fight against illegal rooming houses, for resident safety and the upholding of property standards,” the event flyer reads.

Some landlords opposed to the new rules have held regular protests in Brampton since the program launched earlier this year and recently joined in marching with a group calling for extended post-graduation work permits for some 70,000 international students in Canada and temporary foreign workers facing deportation.

The program has led to more than half of the city’s worst “slum landlords” to comply with building and fire codes, Mayor Patrick Brown said in an update earlier this week.

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Brampton bylaw officers have inspected over 4,700 rental units since the controversial licensing program got off to a rocky start in January with more than $83,500 in fines issued so far, the city said in an update on Monday.

The new rules require landlords renting four or fewer units in Wards 1,3,4,5 and 7 to register with the city. An initial annual fee of $300 is discounted to $150 until the end of September, but starting next month any rental property owner with up to four residential units who isn’t registered can be fined $600.

Brampton City Council is also looking at a proposed ban on new basement suites and additional rental units in Brampton, as well as setting occupancy limits to rentals.

The rally in support of the Residential Rental Licensing pilot program runs from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. on Sunday at Ken Whillans Square in Brampton.