For years, Mayor John Tory has been pushing the province to close what was identified as a loophole that posed a threat to the safety and sense of security of the residents of Toronto Community Housing.

On Monday, after several ongoing efforts by Tory, backed by council, to change the rules, the province announced that Toronto Community Housing and other housing providers now have the ability to turn away prospective tenants who have been previously evicted for serious criminal acts.

But whether the housing provider ever needed this tool, or can be touted as a meaningful contribution to tenant safety, is now in question.

“Every single day, far too many residents of Toronto Community Housing continue to feel unsafe in their own homes because criminals were being let back into their buildings after eviction for criminal behaviour,” said Tory, speaking at a Monday morning press conference at TCH headquarters. “They had already been evicted and they had rights, in some cases special rights, which is an absolutely unacceptable situation.”

Tory praised the government changes — which involved amendments to the Housing Services Act — saying it was an example of governments working together to improve the living conditions of people across the province. The law came into force on Monday.

“No longer will these people be able to take advantage of this vital public service and make life less safe for others.”

But after questions from the Star, TCH says it doesn’t keep statistics on the number of tenants evicted for criminal activity who have returned to live in housing either as a tenant or guest of another resident.

And a former employee — who had knowledge of the evictions process during the time Tory first started pushing for the rule change in 2017 — told the Star that when staff were asked internally to look into the number of tenants returning after eviction, to the best of their knowledge the answer was: “Zero. None.”

That former employee spoke to the Star on condition of anonymity, saying they were not authorized to speak about internal matters.

TCH spokesperson Bruce Malloch told the Star the request to the city to advocate for the legislative amendments “arose from the findings of the mayor’s task force.”

“During its consultations, the task force heard from many TCHC tenants that they do not feel safe in their homes because of the negative impacts of illegal activities taking place in their communities, such as drug dealing and gun violence,” Malloch wrote in an email response.

The task force, struck by Tory in early 2015 to deal with ongoing problems at Canada’s largest housing provider, recommended TCH create an action plan on “increasing safety and security.”

TCH crafted a lengthy action plan that included a pledge to advocate for legislative changes that would make it easier to make buildings safer, including to “prevent persons who have been evicted from a social housing unit for dangerous or illegal conduct from returning to a social housing unit after eviction.”

Tory later pushed the province for change.

“Currently, a tenant who is evicted for serious behavioural misconduct, such as drug dealing or domestic violence, is immediately able to apply for rehousing from (TCH) for affordable rental units or market units,” he wrote in a 2017 letter to council members. Last September, Tory wrote directly to Clark asking changes to the law. By April, Clark announced the change would be made.

One concern TCH has had is that tenants could qualify as vulnerable tenants, which could push them onto a priority waiting list ahead of other hopeful tenants during a housing shortage.

When asked Wednesday why TCH pushed for legislative reform despite there being no data to suggest it’s a problem, TCH reiterated in a statement that refusing to rehouse tenants evicted for illegal acts was a recommendation of the task force.

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“We have also heard from our tenants that they support this action. Tenants have told us that they feel unsafe in their homes when criminals who have been evicted are allowed to return to the community,” TCH said.

Presented with the fact there is no data to support his previous statements, Tory’s spokesperson Don Peat said that the mayor heard from TCH residents through the task force and from officials that “this change to the law was needed so that criminals evicted from community housing cannot be allowed back.”

Provincial Housing Minister Steve Clark said Monday the regulations were crafted to allow individual housing providers to design rules that fit the needs of the communities they are located in.

“We realized that when it comes to housing providers — that I deal with all across Ontario — that one size does not fit all,” said Clark, during Monday’s press conference. “That something that is important here in Toronto might not be as important or as big a priority in rural Ontario.”

Asked about the lack of TCH data to support the need for such a move, a provincial spokesperson for the housing ministry, Conrad Spezowka, said service managers asked for the change and said it would help address criminal activity.

“We are sending a clear message that dangerous criminal activity is not welcome in community housing,” he wrote in an email.

The amended legislation applies to 1,000 housing providers and includes municipalities, non-profits and co-operatives that together provide homes for more than 250,000 families, the ministry said in a news release.

The number of active applications for subsidized housing across Toronto, which includes TCH, private non-for profit housing, co-operatives and some rent-supplemented units, hit 102,000 households in the first quarter of 2019, according to the city’s website.

The New Democratic Party’s deputy leader and housing critic Sara Singh, in a short statement released Monday, said any blame around the erosion of public safety, particularly when it comes to public housing, should be aimed at Premier Doug Ford.

“Today’s announcement does nothing to address the serious lack of investment in community housing and does not reverse the cuts Doug Ford has made to schools and programs for at-risk youth,” Singh said.

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