Ontario Tenant Policy Review: Preliminary Findings through Process Mapping

Maintaining good relationships between landlords and tenants helps to resolve conflicts and disputes. Good tenant policies pushed forward created by socially responsible landlords are also crucial to protecting tenants from eviction. This paper uses process mapping to answer the following questions specifically within the Ontario context: 1) Where and how do landlords and tenants interact? What are the common issues and conflicts involved in these interactions? And 2) What can be done to de-escalate these issues and conflicts? In the process map, all the processes of a tenancy lifecycle are described, including the conflict points, possible outcomes and suggested remedies for each process. The process map presented is designed to improve the relationship between landlords and tenants through the collective efforts of stakeholders, such as housing organizations, tenant advisory committees, individual landlords, tenants, and housing providers. Ultimately, the process map provides tools—so socially responsible landlords can address tenants’ needs and protect tenants’ rights.