Brampton officials have revealed that 25 international students were found living in a single basement apartment and shockingly, this is not the first case.
Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown tells Now Toronto that unfortunately, this particular incident is far from unique and is actually happening on a regular basis.
“I would say we get regular code complaints on a weekly, sometimes a daily basis about dangerous conditions in secondary suites. We have estimates in Brampton that there could be 30,000 illegal secondary units. And it’s why we’ve had this real push to try to have legal suites that meet fire code, that meet building code,” he said on Thursday.
He believes this issue is especially prevalent in Brampton because the city is home to the largest number of international students in Canada. For this reason, the mayor is advocating for proper housing for incoming international students.
“If they’re going to make large sums on the backs of international students, there needs to be a plan for housing and to have someone paying $20-30,000 for tuition and there to be no plans, no foresight into where they’re going to live is inadequate,” Brown said.
Earlier this month, the federal government put a temporary cap on the number of international student visas permitted over the next two years.
According to Immigration Minister Marc Miller, for 2024, the cap is expected to result in approximately 364,000 approved study permits, representing a decrease of 35 per cent from 2023.
Brown says no matter the number of students the government decides on, his advocacy is about linking that number to housing and ensuring these students have a home.
“If they want to give this college 5,000 students then make sure that college has a plan for 5,000 students. In terms of the underfunding of colleges and universities in Ontario, I think that is a separate debate. That is a legitimate debate. I think there are real financial pressures in the universities and colleges, but it shouldn’t be on the backs of international students,” he explained.
Essentially, the mayor would like to see the federal government attach a housing requirement at the beginning of its approval process, so a student is not able to come to the country unless there is a housing plan in place for them.
BROWN RESPONDS TO RRL BACKLASH
The discovery of the 25 international students comes on the heels of the city pausing its new residential rental licensing pilot program (RRL) for review.
The two-year RRL program launched on Jan. 1 in wards 1,3,4,5 and 7 required landlords of every rental property to obtain a licence to rent out four or less units. The city says the program was created with the intention to curb its illegal rental units which an estimated 100,000 residents are currently living in.
Last week, the city said it was temporarily pausing the program to review and streamline its intake process, and to make several program updates.
These updates include removing the requirement for the criminal record check, accepting the property tax bill as proof of ownership, not requiring condominium apartments or condominium townhouses to obtain a business licence and lastly, extending the full fee waiver period from Mar. 31 to June 30, 2024.
“We’ve had to recalibrate to make sure that the IT (information technology) capacity was there to accept the applications. Essentially, what we’ve said is that if you’re an illegal unit, you have to register, otherwise, you’re going to face fines. All the legal units can automatically be part of this, no fee, no paperwork. It’s really targeting slum landlords,” Brown revealed.
Recently, the program has been heavily criticized by some residents who believe it should be cancelled altogether. As a result, a petition was created calling on the city to halt the program. The petition had nearly 7,300 signatures at time of publication.
“We wish to draw attention to the fact that such an economic burden may lead to a reconsideration by landlords in renting out their basements, exacerbating the existing housing crisis in Brampton,” the petition read.
Some homeowners even protested against the program at Gore Meadows Community Centre last weekend.
Despite some opposition, Brown says he has received an overall positive response about the program and that it seems the only people who are bothered are illegal landlords.
“There’s a noisy vocal minority that wants to oppose this, but I’d say the overall response that we’re getting around the city is, ‘About time, thank you.’ If you’re a legal landlord, this doesn’t change anything for you. If you meet fire code, if you meet building code, and you’re not a slum landlord, this will not affect you in the least. There’ll be no additional onus, no fee, no paperwork,” he said.
“But if you’re a slum landlord, for the first time in Brampton’s history, there’s going to be significant fines and significant consequences for, frankly, for those that prey upon the most vulnerable.”
"like this" - Google News
February 02, 2024 at 04:48AM
https://ift.tt/zONHFWB
‘We've seen cases like this on a regular basis,’ Brampton mayor says 25 international students were found living in a ... - NOW Toronto
"like this" - Google News
https://ift.tt/DSiEbQn
Shoes Man Tutorial
Pos News Update
Meme Update
Korean Entertainment News
Japan News Update
No comments:
Post a Comment