Waterloo drafting renoviction bylaw that could protect tenants and raise taxes
Posted Jan 20, 2026 07:32:39 AM.
Last Updated Jan 20, 2026 10:43:10 AM.
The City of Waterloo will begin drafting a rental renovation licence bylaw, a piece of legislation that council hopes will offer protections for renters and tenants, but may also increase property taxes.
City council voted in favour of drafting the bylaw at a regular council meeting on Monday, but the option that council selected wasn’t the one staff were recommending.
In the summer of 2025, councillors directed staff to create a framework for a rental renovation licensing program, colloquially known as a renoviction bylaw. Their findings led staff to propose to council that they continue offering the current level of support for tenants, as the number of renovictions in Waterloo over the past five years is quite low.
A renoviction occurs when a landlord evicts a tenant by claiming they will complete renovations, which range from complete overhauls to a simple paint job, to increase the price of rent when searching for a new tenant.
“The systemic issues will still remain, and you will rely on wraparound services, which will never meet the demand,” said Ryan Murdoch, a delegate at Monday’s meeting.
Renoviction bylaws are currently in place in cities like London and Hamilton, and last June, the City of Kitchener pushed forward plans to create its own renoviction bylaw.
“The psychological impacts of this are huge, not just getting evicted, but the process of it, so we really have to support residents in all the ways we can with all the tools we have,” said Councillor Jen Vasic.
Implementing a renoviction bylaw in Waterloo would require the hiring of three full-time staff, and the report notes that it could cost taxpayers upwards of $800,000 in the first year of operation and $450,000 in the years after. Waterloo Mayor Dorothy McCabe said with that price point, it could increase property taxes by 1 per cent indefinitely.
In December, Waterloo council passed its budget for 2026, marking the largest property tax increase approved throughout this current term or over the past decade at a 6.4 per cent increase.
“We’ve had council members who voted against that budget because they were saying the property tax was too high, so I’m a little surprised that there’s a willingness to add this amount of additional cost to the budget,” said McCabe.
Mayor McCabe ended up representing the only vote opposed, and staff will begin the process of drafting a rental renovation licensing for Waterloo.
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