Housing advocates and tenants are calling for a halt on evictions and Landlord Tenant Board (LTB) hearings amid the outbreak of COVID-19 in the province.

“I had three different phone calls (this week) from people reaching out to the York South-Weston tenant union about having been recently evicted, and they’ve shown up to their home with the doors locked,” said Chiara Padovani, a social worker and one of the founding members of the union.

Immediate action needs to be taken if the city and province are serious about enforcing social distancing, which she says is difficult if evictions force people to move into shelters or into crowded homes. On Friday, the group launched a petition backing the demands, which has garnered roughly 400 signatures.

“It’s safer for everyone in the city, in the province, to have a place to live.”

York University student Ali Ali, who was evicted along with his mother and two sisters from their apartment on Eglinton Avenue West on Feb. 27, agrees.

After their eviction, Ali and his family were able to move in with relatives, though the situation is far from ideal, with five people sharing a two-bedroom apartment.

“God forbid if our aunt couldn’t have taken us in, we could have ended up in a shelter or living on the streets, where the chance of us getting coronavirus could have been a lot greater,” said Ali.

He said his family had been late on paying rent at their apartment on Eglinton Avenue West between August and October, though he said they still succeeded in paying what was owed for each month. From November onwards the rent was paid on time, he said, but that didn’t prevent their eviction, which was ultimately approved after a hearing at the LTB in October.

On Friday the LTB announced in-person hearings would be cancelled to slow the spread of virus, however some hearings will continue by phone when “feasible.”

“(Evictions) definitely should be put on hold with the coronavirus outbreak,” Ali said. “By evicting someone, you could be putting those tenants at risk.”

The call to halt evictions is also being supported by Coun. Kristyn Wong-Tam (Ward 13, Toronto Centre), who issued a statement Saturday demanding that federal compensation packages include an “immediate” freeze on rent and mortgage payments.

“We will ultimately come out of this global health crisis a nation that is stronger and more resilient than ever before, but we can’t do it if people are facing forced evictions,” Wong-Tam told the Star.

“I’m hearing from my constituents and they’re very worried about making their rent payments, especially for those who work in hospitality,” she said. “I have residents who are taxi drivers, who do overnight shift work, who are apartment and office cleaners, or who work in convention centres ... A whole group of individuals who I believe are going to fall through the cracks.”

She hopes to see a freeze on evictions and mortgage and rent payments across the country, none of which are under municipal jurisdiction.

Housing courts in New York City have already announced they won’t be issuing any eviction orders for one week starting on Monday.

In the meantime, housing rights lawyer Caryma Sa’d said tenants should keep in mind that the Residential Tenancies Act states evictions should only be granted with a “full regard of the circumstances.”

“All of the circumstances would include something like a pandemic, and that would entitle the board member to either delay or refuse an eviction,” Sa’d said.

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Tenants could also appeal for a postponement of their hearing if they are taking precautions that prevent them from making contact with a lawyer, she said.

“There are no perfect solutions,” Sa’d said. “From a utilitarian standpoint, we really want to ensure we’re not feeding into a crisis by putting people out at a time when (they) may not be even be able to go to work.”