On March 19, 2020, two days after announcing a state of
emergency due to the coronavirus pandemic, Ontario moved to
temporarily protect residential tenants from eviction. The Landlord
and Tenant Board suspended all eviction application hearings and
the Superior Court of Justice ordered that no eviction orders shall
be enforced. With 2.2 million Ontario workers directly affected by
either job losses or reduced hours, this action provided Ontario
renters—many of whom living paycheque to paycheque—with
critical relief. However, by May 15, the Ontario government
continued to resist calls to extend the same protection to small
business tenants.
In lieu of providing legal protection, the province instead
encouraged "cooperation" and called on commercial
landlords of small businesses to be fair, flexible, and leverage
the Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance (CECRA) program
which would open for applications on May 25. CECRA provides
eligible commercial landlords with
