The City of Toronto is moving ahead with a plan to licence all landlords and periodically inspect their buildings in an effort to crack down on "appalling" conditions at some.

Coun. Howard Moscoe, who chairs the licensing and standards committee, toured some of the city's apartment buildings Thursday for a first-hand look at the conditions tenants endure.

Pieces of parquet flooring dislodge in Huong Nguyen's apartment when she walks over them.
(David Michael Lamb/CBC)

Among the worst was a building in Parkdale, located at 75 Spencer Ave., near King and Dufferin streets.

Huong Nguyen pays $850 for her apartment that she says is falling apart, pointing to electrical plugs held together with tape and an old stove that gives her electric shocks.

Cockroaches scurry across the floor and pieces of parquet flooring dislodge as Nguyen walks across it.

"It sticks in my foot," she said.

Nguyen, an immigrant from Vietnam, said her seven-year-old daughter often asks why they don't move to a better home. A nicer place is unaffordable, she responds.

"I'm appalled, but you know what, I'm not surprised. I think there are hundreds of building like this in the city," said Moscoe.

"Landlord licensing will come. All we're debating now is the form it will take," he added.

Tenants have complained that their repeated requests for repairs go unanswered by landlords.

Huong Nguyen points to an unprotected electric plug.
(David Michael Lamb/CBC)

Moscoe said he plans to introduce a licensing scheme to force landlords to clean up their buildings based on the model followed for restaurants.

"We inspect restaurants periodically. If there's a problem, it gets inspected monthly until it gets cleaned up," said Moscoe.

Not everyone supports the idea of licensing landlords.

The Greater Toronto Apartment Association, which represents some city landlords, said the city can already force landlords to fix buildings, but doesn't.