Ottawa ACORN Hosts City Staff for Renoviction By-Law Consultation
Posted October 30, 2025
Recently, ACORN won against the worst parts of Doug Ford’s Bill 60, which would have eliminated lease tenure if not for ACORN’s efforts to send over 23,000 emails to Doug Ford’s government. The housing crisis continues to get worse, hurting communities all over Ontario. Since Ford won’t protect tenants, we’re calling on cities to plug the holes.
On October 30th, 55 ACORN members hosted the City of Ottawa staff who are drafting the renoviction by-law for a public consultation. ACORN leaders Sara Laviolette and Mel Battison went over the epidemic of renovictions and the tactics landlords use. City staff gave a presentation on their plans to develop a renoviction by-law and then listened to 15+ ACORN members with renoviction experience and lawyer Claire Michela from Raven Law!
Ottawa ACORN is pleased to see the City of Ottawa stepping up to the task. The City staff who are working on the Renoviction By-law, Matthew Suatac, Valerie Bietlot, and Jerrod Riley, took time to give us an overview of the current state of the bylaw. The night wrapped up with a Q&A, but the fight for tenant rights isn’t over! Ottawa ACORN is fighting for better in every corner of the city.
Huge shoutout to ACORN leaders Sara Laviolette and Mel Battison for running such a strong and impactful consultation meeting and thank you to Claire Michela for speaking at the event.
Thank you again to city staff Valerie Bietlot, Jerrod Riley, and Matthew Suactac for joining us to hear from ACORN members across Ottawa as to why this Renoviction By-law is vital to protecting tenants and our existing affordable housing.
It was a great meeting and ACORN is looking forward to continuing to work with City Hall to develop a strong renoviction by-law like Hamilton and Toronto.
Stay tuned for next steps!
