By BEN SPENCER, SUN MEDIA The fact that the headline acts were a no-show didn't seem to matter. With mint-flavoured ice-cream the odd choice to mark the occasion, Toronto yesterday became the first North American city to unveil a quality assurance program for rental properties. Billed as a significant day in the Toronto rental industry's history, both Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Jim Watson and Mayor David Miller were slated to appear. Neither showed up. Nonetheless, the Federation of Rental-housing Providers of Ontario pushed on, officially launching its "Certified Rental Building Program" for rental housing in the GTA. The landmark program will set good and bad landlords apart and give prospective tenants an easy way of working out the quality of their next home. Property owners will have to meet three requirements, including undergoing a rigorous building audit. Those buildings that win the tick of approval will bear the CRBP symbol. The program will give tenants "peace of mind," said FRPO certification director Ted Whitehead. Whitehead said it is hoped 500 rental buildings will be certified this year and another 1,000 added by the end of next year. FRPO is the largest rental housing industry association in the province. $1M and they still can't get bugs out |
Toronto Community Housing spends more than $1 million a year trying to get rid of pests but admits so far the solution has escaped them.
The TCH Community Management Plan, which will be presented to the city's executive committee today, says more work needs to be done with staff, tenants and pest control contractors to stamp out the problem.
The housing provider issues 30,000 work orders a year for pest control, a service provided free to tenants.
TCH spokesman Jeffrey Ferrier said infestations remain a very common tenant complaint. "Pest control is a Toronto issue that affects everything from social housing to five-star hotels," he said. "The bugs are becoming genetically mutated to be resistant to the treatment."
UNHAPPY EXPERIENCE
The housing authority has not always been happy with the quality of the pest control services it hired, so it will pre-qualify contractors, and monitor their work.
An education program for tenants will focus on behavioural issues that contribute to infestations, include picking up used furniture from waste bins, poor housekeeping, hoarding and failing to report sightings.
Seniors, the disabled and tenants with mental health issues often find it hard to do the cleaning required to get rid of an infestation, so the pests tend to come back quickly, a report to the TCH board in December said.
The most common infestations in public housing stock are German cockroaches, house mice and bed bugs.
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