Ottawa ACORN Demands Action: Healthy Homes Now!

OTTAWA— On June 24th, ACORN members from across Ottawa came together for a citywide Healthy Homes Meeting to demand what should be a basic right— safe, livable housing. For too long, tenants have faced pests, mould, broken appliances, and landlords who refuse to act. That’s why ACORN is calling on the City to finally implement Landlord Licensing.

Huge shoutout to the ACORN leaders who ran this top-tier meeting: Marie-Lourdes Garnier who is the Chair of Ottawa ACORN’s South Chapter, and Sara Laviolette who is the Chair of Ottawa ACORN’s Vanier Chapter.

ACORN members have been organizing for this since 2008, knocking on doors, holding rallies, and pushing the city to act. While the 2020 Rental Housing Property Management By-Law was a step forward, it’s not enough. Repairs are still being ignored, pests return, and landlords aren’t held accountable.

At the Healthy Homes Meeting, ACORN members Grace Iyobosa and Roxane Donovan shared their experiences. Grace described serious disrepair and being left to live with bedbug and mice infestations. Roxane talked about living with bedbugs, sewage leaks and having no support from her landlord who is now renovicting her! Grace and Roxane’s experiences highlight what many renters across the city already know: the system doesn’t work for tenants.

ACORN’s proposed landlord licensing system would change that. Modeled after Toronto’s RentSafeTO program that Toronto ACORN won, it includes:

• Mandatory proactive inspections
• Publicly posted building grades based on condition
• Fines for landlords who don’t comply
• A tenant-accessible database of complaints and violations
• Real transparency and accountability

We also had a round of trivia based on shocking statistics from ACORN’s latest State of Repairs report, sparking discussion and outrage about the scope of neglect tenants are facing across Ottawa.

Thank you to the guest speakers who spoke about how corporate landlords profit from neglect — and why stronger regulation is urgently needed. Hardie Rath-Wilson who is a tenant lawyer with the University of Ottawa’s Community Legal Clinic and Ricardo Tranjan who is Senior researcher on housing and social policy at the Canadian Center for Policy Alternatives and author of The Tenant Class.

Huge shoutout to the City councillors — Sean Devine, Stephanie Plante, and Jeff Leiper — for attending this important meeting to hear directly from ACORN members and express their support for Landlord Licensing. Their presence shows that ACORN’s organizing is being recognized, but there’s still work to do. So let’s keep the pressure up!

Next Steps:

 Click here to email your councillor and the Mayor to demand landlord licensing

Does your landlord deserve ‘Ottawa’s Worst Slumlord’ award? Click here to nominate them before July 21st at 8pm!

Come to our Citywide Planning meeting where we will announce the Winner of ‘Ottawa’s Worst Slumlord Award’ and plan the award delivery to their head office with us on Tuesday, July 22nd at 6:30PM at the ACORN office (404 McArthur Ave)

This fight is about tenant power and levelling the playing field. It’s about making sure landlords can’t keep collecting rent while ignoring basic maintenance. It’s time for the City to stop relying on tenants to fix a broken system. Ottawa needs Landlord Licensing NOW.