ACORN launches Tenant Survey across Toronto

Toronto, Ontario — Today, Toronto ACORN launched our Tenant Survey across the City of Toronto to hear directly from renters what issues they’re facing. Since 2004, ACORN members have been campaigning for Landlord Licensing in the City of Toronto — where you need a license to run a hot dog stand, but not to be a landlord!

In 2007, Toronto ACORN won the MRAB (Municipal Residential Apartment Building) Audit and Enforcement Program, but it wasn’t enough to provide healthy homes for all tenants in Toronto. 

After a decade of fighting the City for proactive enforcement against bad landlords, Toronto ACORN members finally won the RentSafeTO program in 2017, which charges landlords fees per unit, and funds property inspectors to inspect apartment buildings, similar to how health inspectors inspect restaurants.

RentSafeTO was a huge step in the right direction. But there are plenty of problems with the program. Bylaw officers often give landlords the benefit of the doubt, rather than using the enforcement tools they’re given. Some landlords refuse to accept paper work orders, while others will spruce up building common areas before a RentSafeTO inspection, only to leave tenants’ apartment units in disrepair. We need to give RentSafe teeth.

This survey will give us better data to understand the experiences of tenants renting in the City of Toronto. ACORN has pushed City staff to report back to City Council in April 2026 on ways they can strengthen property standards enforcement and better serve tenants. To help guide ACORN’s recommendations to the City, we are collecting feedback from Toronto tenants on their experiences renting, including any experiences with RentSafeTO or the Municipal Licensing & Standards department. This information will be used to create a report, which will be published in spring 2026.

Privacy Statement

All data collected is kept confidential by ACORN Canada. Data presented to the public will only be made available anonymously and will not include any identifying information. Your address and contact information will only be used by ACORN Canada to verify you live in Toronto and to contact you about this campaign and others.

Questions?

Contact Toronto ACORN at +1 (416) 461-9233 or [email protected].