2. Decide if you need any witnesses

A witness is a person who tells the Board member what they saw or heard.

You will probably be a witness at your hearing. You might also need other witnesses to help prove what you are saying is true or that your landlord is not telling the truth.

Witnesses can also include family, friends, other tenants, social workers, police officers, or building inspectors.

Some tenants ask the superintendent in their building to testify at the hearing for them. This might not be a good idea because the superintendent works for your landlord. They might not feel that they can say anything that would make the landlord look bad.

Sometimes you need a witness to prove that a document is real or that the information in the document is true.

Summonsing a witness

If you want a public official to be a witness, for example, a building inspector, you must “summons” them. To do this, you must fill in and submit the Request for the Board to Issue a Summons form. On this form you will have to explain why that witness would be helpful, and also tell the Board what information you want the witness to bring (for example, a copy of an inspection report).

If the Board agrees, they will issue a summons telling the witness when and where to come for the hearing. You then have to give the summons to the witness.

You might have to pay the witness a fee when they come to the hearing. The fee is $50 per day, plus at least $3 per day for travel, or more if the person has to travel out of the city or town they live in.

You should summons your witness as soon as possible. If you wait too long, they might not be able to come on your hearing date. This could cause a delay in your hearing or make it harder to prove your case.

You don’t have to give a witness summons to a friend, family member, or neighbour if you are sure they will show up. But you can give them a summons if they need to show it to their employer so they can get time off work to come to the hearing.