A report examining the eviction of 82-year-old Al Gosling from his Toronto Community Housing unit which led to his death was released Friday.

TCH chief executive officer Keiko Nakamura said she’s taking full responsibility for Gosling’s death and added the agency will move quickly to implement all the recommendations put forward in the report authored by former provincial chief justice Patrick Lesage.

Read the report

Gosling died last fall. The events that led to his death started when he was evicted from his unit in June 2009. According to a report in the Toronto Star, the elderly man had ignored a request from TCH to submit his annual declaration of income, a document that shows he needs subsidy, and that prompted the housing agency to increase his rent to market value. Gosling accumulated arrears and after TCH had sent him several letters, which he ignored, the elderly man was kicked out of his home.

Gosling slept in the stairwell of his building for a week, apparently unnoticed, according to the report in the Star.

He was eventually taken to hospital by police and then transferred to a shelter where he picked up an illness and was taken to hospital, where he died.

Nakamura said TCH is going to review its policies and will opt for more face-to-face contact with its clients – about one third are seniors – as opposed to relying on mail correspondence.

"The current strategy of sending to tenants a constant stream of letters, some of which use threatening language, needs to change," the report states. "Tenants need to be put on notice of their arrears; however, threatening eviction at the first sign of arrears is not a productive step to engaging the tenant. Staff must make every effort to contact tenants in order to understand the root of the arrears problem and where possible rectify it at the earliest opportunity. This will not be accomplished solely by letter writing."