Bill 60 Passed: A New Era of Confidence for Landlords, Condo Owners, and Real Estate Investors in Ontario
The Comprehensive Investor’s Playbook on the Fighting Delays, Building Faster Act, 2025
The recent passage of Bill 60, the Fighting Delays, Building Faster Act, 2025, marks the most significant shift in Ontario’s landlord-tenant legislation in over a decade. This is not a tweak to existing laws; it is a fundamental re-calibration of risk designed to restore investor confidence, accelerate housing supply, and ultimately bring much-needed predictability back to the rental market.
For too long, the narrative in Ontario’s housing sector has been dominated by uncertainty, chronic Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) delays, and a perception of a system unfairly balanced against property owners. Bill 60 is the government’s bold response, directly addressing the core pain points that have kept investment units off the market and discouraged the creation of new supply.
If you are a landlord, a condo owner, or a real estate investor, the changes introduced by Bill 60 are not just welcome news—they are critical, strategic advantages that immediately enhance the value and liquidity of your assets.
This comprehensive guide breaks down every key provision, detailing exactly why Bill 60 is a decisive victory for property rights and how you can leverage these new rules to maximize your investment returns and minimize operational risk.
Section 1: The Core Problem Solved—De-Risking the Rental Market
To appreciate the immense value of Bill 60, one must first understand the structural crisis it was designed to solve.
The Investor’s Dilemma: Risk, Delay, and Lost Capital
For years, the three greatest risks faced by rental property investors were Non-Payment, Capital Access, and Opportunity Cost.
The Non-Payment Crisis: A tenant who stopped paying rent could tie up a unit for 8 to 12 months waiting for an LTB hearing. During this period, the landlord was still responsible for the mortgage, property taxes, and utility costs, often resulting in tens of thousands of dollars in unrecoverable losses, bankrupting many small investors.
The Capital Access Challenge (The N12 Penalty): If an investor needed to sell a unit to access capital (e.g., fund a child’s education, pay off debt, or pursue a new venture), evicting the tenant for “landlord’s own use” (N12) required a mandatory one-month compensation payment. This was a direct, four-figure hit to liquidity and exit strategy.
The Predictability Problem: LTB backlog created massive uncertainty. The inability to predict the resolution time for any dispute made investment risk unquantifiable, pushing institutional investors toward other, more stable markets.
The government’s message, backed by the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB) and landlord advocacy groups, is clear: restoring predictability to the system will unlock tens of thousands of units, ultimately benefiting the entire market by accelerating supply. Bill 60 is the mechanism for this restoration.
Section 2: The Landlord’s Financial Playbook (Operational Risk Mitigation)
The new legislation provides three powerful, tangible tools for landlords to manage their operational and financial risk. These changes create a firmer, clearer framework that rewards responsible tenancy and penalizes those who abuse the system.
Strategy 1: Eliminating the Non-Payment Burden—The 7-Day Fast Track
Under the previous system, the 14-day notice period before filing an LTB application was seen by many as a grace period that was often exploited. Bill 60 cuts this initial delay in half.
Financial Impact: Saving Opportunity Cost
The most crucial financial gain here is the reduction of opportunity cost. If an eviction process used to take 8 months (32 weeks) and Bill 60 cuts 3 weeks off the process through faster initial filing and shorter appeal windows, the savings for a unit renting at $2,500/month are:
Savings=3 weeks×$625/week=$1,875
This is the minimum immediate financial gain from the procedural acceleration alone. More importantly, real estate experts project that the systemic efficiency will eventually shrink the entire LTB backlog, saving landlords many months of lost rent.
Strategy 2: The Contract Restored—New Hearing Rules
One of the most frustrating abuses of the old system was the “ambush defense,” where non-paying tenants would suddenly raise complex maintenance or harassment issues at the hearing, solely to force an adjournment and delay the eviction.
New Rule: A tenant seeking to raise issues unrelated to the rent arrears (e.g., maintenance, harassment) during a non-payment hearing must now either meet strict advance notice requirements or pay 50% of the rent owed into the Board's trust to even be heard on those matters.
Why This is a Game Changer for Investors
This provision directly restores the sanctity of the rental contract. The LTB's new focus ensures that a non-payment hearing is about one thing: non-payment.
Reduces Delays: Landlords no longer face automatic adjournments due to last-minute, often meritless, claims designed solely to buy time.
Screens Out Abuses: The 50% payment requirement creates a financial barrier that will screen out those using frivolous claims to delay a just eviction. If a tenant has a genuine grievance but has lost their job, there are dedicated legal applications (T6 for maintenance) and social programs for assistance. Bill 60 ensures the LTB remains an efficient legal tribunal, not a social services agency for delay tactics.
Strategy 3: The Cost-Free N12 Exit Strategy (Capital Liquidity)
For condo owners and investors, the N12 rule change is a direct capital liquidity injection.
Old Rule: Mandatory 60 days’ notice + One Month’s Rent Compensation.
New Rule: 120 days’ notice + Zero Compensation Required.
Financial Impact: Direct Cash Savings
If you own a condo unit in Toronto currently renting for $3,000/month, the decision to reclaim the unit for sale or personal use now saves you $3,000 in immediate, mandatory payout.
This change allows for seamless strategic planning:
Optimize the Sale: Use the 120-day notice to prepare the unit for sale while it is still occupied and generating income. You can then market the property as “Vacant Possession Available upon closing”—a premium feature that increases market appeal to owner-occupiers.
Improve Returns: By avoiding the payout, the overall return on investment (ROI) for the entire holding period is measurably higher. This mitigates the financial risk often associated with exiting the rental market.
Section 3: The Condo Owner and Developer Advantage (Valuation and Costs)
The benefits of Bill 60 extend beyond landlord-tenant dynamics, specifically targeting the cost structure of new condo development and the valuation of existing units.
The Condo Valuation Catalyst: Easier Possession
A rental property’s valuation is intrinsically linked to its risk profile. Before Bill 60, a condominium with a sitting tenant carried an inherent discount compared to a vacant unit, simply because the process of obtaining vacant possession (N12) was lengthy, costly, and open to LTB dispute.
Higher Sale Prices: By making the N12 process cheaper and clearer, the perceived risk to a buyer who wants to occupy the unit is lowered. This translates directly to higher potential sale prices for investors looking to exit. Liquidity is enhanced, and the "investor discount" is reduced.
The Green Roof Repeal: A Direct Cost Saving for New Builds
One of the less-publicized but financially significant measures in the bill is the provincial override of Toronto’s mandatory Green Roof Bylaw.
The Change: New commercial, institutional, and large residential buildings are no longer required to install green roofs (vegetative systems). The practice is now voluntary.
The Investment Benefit: The government explicitly moved to repeal this to “lower costs to support new home construction” and reduce red tape. While green roofs offer environmental benefits, they add significant cost and complexity, including:
Higher Upfront Construction Costs: Specialized waterproofing, structural reinforcement, and vegetation systems.
Higher Long-Term Maintenance: Complex systems lead to higher repair and replacement costs, which are ultimately borne by condo owners through higher maintenance fees.
By removing this mandate, Bill 60 removes friction from the development process, which can lead to:
Faster Project Timelines: Fewer specialized building requirements speed up the construction phase.
Lower Initial Purchase Prices: Developers can pass on a portion of the cost savings to buyers.
Stable Condo Fees: New condo buyers can anticipate lower long-term maintenance costs and more predictable reserve fund allocations, enhancing the unit's long-term financial appeal.
This regulatory rollback signals the province's commitment to prioritizing cost-efficiency and volume in the housing sector, a massive positive signal for the development community.
Section 4: The Strategic Action Plan for the Prudent Investor
Bill 60 is a powerful tool, but like any legislative change, its benefits are only realized by those who understand and apply the new rules diligently.
1. Mastering the Eviction Timeline
Every landlord must internalize the new, accelerated timeline to maximize the benefit of reduced LTB wait times:
Rent Due: 1st of the month.
Day 2: Serve the N4 notice immediately if rent is not received.
Day 9 (New Deadline): If rent is still unpaid, file the L1 application with the LTB. Do not wait the old 14 days.
Post-Order: If an eviction order is issued, the window to legally enforce it via the Sheriff has been reduced from 30 days to 15 days after the review period expires. Act quickly to notify the Sheriff’s office to secure your place in their queue.
2. Optimize Your Exit Strategy with the 120-Day N12
Use the new compensation-free N12 notice as a strategic planning tool for selling your investment property:
The Sweet Spot: The 120-day window is four months. This gives you ample time to prepare the unit for sale, list the property, find a buyer, and close the deal without paying the compensation fee.
Maximize Value: By guaranteeing vacant possession to an owner-occupier buyer, you will attract a higher price than a similar unit sold with a sitting tenant (which an owner-occupier cannot buy unless the tenant is successfully evicted via N12 or N13).
3. Zero Tolerance for Arrears
The new LTB rules encourage strict adherence to the rental contract. The risk of waiting is now doubled, as you lose seven crucial days of queue time. Adopt a zero-tolerance policy for rent arrears:
Serve the N4 on day 2.
File the L1 on day 9.
Document all maintenance requests via email or registered mail. This prevents the tenant from using legitimate maintenance issues as a surprise defense against a non-payment claim.
Section 5: Market Outlook—The Path to Confidence and Supply
The true purpose of Bill 60, according to the government and its supporters in the real estate sector, is to generate confidence. This confidence is the essential ingredient needed to solve Ontario's long-term housing shortage.
The Long-Term Supply Hypothesis
Real estate experts and advocacy groups consistently argue that the province’s rental shortage stems directly from a lack of confidence among investors and small landlords. By making the LTB process predictable and the asset less risky, Bill 60 incentivizes two key actions:
Releasing Dormant Units: Property owners who previously kept potential rental units vacant out of fear of getting "stuck" with a problem tenant are now incentivized to list them.
Encouraging New Investment: New investors will see Ontario’s rental market as a more viable and less precarious long-term investment, leading to increased capital flow into new purpose-built rental buildings and condo units.
While critics argue the bill primarily accelerates evictions, the prevailing view among investors is that an efficient system is a necessary precondition for growth. If property rights are secured and contracts are enforceable in a timely manner, the market responds with supply. This ultimately benefits everyone through increased choice and competition.
The Outlook for Property Value
The combined effect of easier unit possession (N12), reduced operational risk (7-day rule), and lower development friction (Green Roof repeal) suggests a positive outlook for the value of rental-specific assets:
Investor Demand: The reduced risk profile will increase investor demand for rental properties, applying upward pressure on prices.
Rental Rate Stability: While vacancy decontrol remains, the ability to reset rents to market rates upon a predictable turnover (facilitated by quicker processes) maintains the financial viability of the asset over time.
Bill 60 is a strategic move that acknowledges and addresses the deep-seated concerns of the investment community, signaling a shift in policy designed to make Ontario an attractive and stable place to invest in rental housing once again.
Conclusion: The New Foundation for Ontario Real Estate
Bill 60, the Fighting Delays, Building Faster Act, 2025, is a watershed moment for property owners in Ontario. It represents a firm legislative hand correcting an imbalanced system.
By shortening eviction timelines, removing the financial penalty for "own use" evictions, and streamlining the LTB hearing process, the government has focused laser-like on the three primary drivers of investor hesitancy: Time, Cost, and Uncertainty.
For landlords, condo owners, and investors, this bill is more than just a regulatory change—it is a renewed opportunity. It demands that you update your processes, act decisively on arrears, and strategically plan your unit turnover and sales. In return, it promises a system that respects property rights, enforces contracts, and delivers the stability required to confidently invest in and grow the much-needed housing supply for the province.
The era of long delays and unquantifiable risk is over. The time to invest, optimize, and leverage these new rules is now.