Repairs Can’t Wait – York West Tenants Organize for Stronger Enforcement for RentsafeTO

At a tenant town hall at the York Woods Library, residents of the York West neighbourhood came together to launch the “Repairs Can’t Wait” campaign, demanding stronger enforcement of the very city program ACORN members fought a decade to create. Filling the room were a few dozen tenants, ACORN members, MPP Tom Rakocevic, as well as representatives from RentsafeTO staff, the Mayor’s office, and MP Judy Sgro’s office. 

Jane and Finch is a community made up largely of renters – working-class families, seniors, newcomers, and low income communities who keep this city running. Many buildings in the area are half a century old and in serious need of maintenance. ACORN members are clear in their demands: Tenants fought and won for RentsafeTO, and now it needs to have the strength to protect. A program like RentsafeTO means nothing without consistent inspections, transparent timelines, and substantive penalties when standards are not met. The “Repairs Can’t Wait” campaign calls for the City to stop closing files when work is incomplete, improve communication with tenants, expand coverage so all renters are protected, and ensure that enforcement does not depend on tenants repeatedly navigating a bureaucratic maze just to have basic repairs addressed.

At the meeting, residents spoke about ongoing repair issues that have dragged on for months and in some cases years. Tenants described filing countless complaints with the city only to see files marked “closed” while problems remain inside their homes. When enforcement doesn’t follow through, renters are being left to deal with the consequences.

RentsafeTO staff received many questions, and much criticism, from not only the crowd but the MPP and MP’s offices as well, who reported having to consistently field tenants who have been turned away or mishandled by 311/RentsafeTO staff. In all, the consensus was exceptionally clear; the sentiment even being echoed by RentsafeTO staff, that the RentsafeTO program does not have the required authority to enforce that landlords follow the law. 

This campaign is rooted in the same principle that has driven ACORN Canada for decades: when tenants organize together, we win change that protects everyone. Jane and Finch tenants are not asking for special treatment, they are demanding that the City of Toronto enforce its own programs and that landlords be held to legal accountability. 

Repairs can’t wait. Neither can tenants.

If you are dealing with unresolved repair issues in your building, get organized. Join your local ACORN chapter and be part of the fight for safe, healthy homes across Toronto.