Eviction during COVID-19 (LTB)

Morguard Corporation v Corredor, 2020 ONSC 2166 (CanLII)

[2] The landlord brought a proceeding before the Landlord and Tenant Board seeking to evict the tenants. The landlord alleged that eviction was required because the tenant Nicolas C. Lozada Corredor committed a sexual assault in the building complex.

[6] In response to the emergency declared by the government of Ontario in relation to the global COVID-19 pandemic, on March 19, 2020, the Attorney General brought a legal proceeding before Chief Justice Geoffrey B. Morawetz, the Chief Justice of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice. In that proceeding, the Attorney General sought an order “suspending the execution of all writs of possession to evict residents from their homes during the 2019 novel coronavirus pandemic”.

[10] Under s. 85 of the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, an eviction order is enforced in the same manner as a writ of possession under the Rules of Civil Procedure, RRO 1990, Reg 194. By making an eviction order, the board has essentially given leave for the issuance of a writ of possession under Rule 60.10(1).

[11] However, the Chief Justice’s order has suspended the enforcement of all writs of possession related to residential evictions. The order creates a question as to whether and how the board’s order can or might be enforced. Rule 60.17 provides that “[w]here a question arises in relation to the measures to be taken by a sheriff in carrying out an order” an interested party may make a motion for directions to a judge.

[12] In my respectful view, the order for leave to evict a tenant despite the moratorium imposed by the Chef Justice’s order is properly a motion for directions under Rule 60.17 as supported by Rules 60.03, 60.10, and s. 85 of the statute.