Rent protections and an attempt to save the Ontario Science Centre top the agenda at city council Wednesday.

Council is moving forward with the framework for so-called renovictions.

Like the city of Hamilton’s bylaw, Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow says it will require landlords to get permission from the city before doing renovations that require tenants to move out and in some cases, hike the rent after the renovations.

“If the landlord says we need to evict you, the landlord has to get an engineer report to show why the unit has to be empty when doing the renovations and then city staff has to approve that,” said Mayor Olivia Chow.

The staff report is due by the end of October.

Also at city hall, councilor Josh Matlow is presenting a motion to save the Ontario Science Centre and repair the current site which was abruptly closed last week due to structural issues.

It’s set to reopen at its new location at Ontario Place in 2028.

“I’m asking Toronto to show the leadership and to have the back of Flemington Park for our communities that love the Science Centre because Doug Ford is abandoning them and I want to make sure we a say before the wrecking ball hits,” said Matlow.

Meantime, the province is searching for a temporary home for the Science Centre at a fraction of the size of the building that was abruptly closed last week over structural concerns.

Wednesday marks Mayor Olivia Chow’s first year on the job, and she points to a historic transit funding deal with the province among the highlights during her term so far.

“We went from an unmitigated disaster to a new deal in just a few months that freed up billions of dollars that we can spend fixing other things and building more for transit and shelters,” said Chow.