Peel ACORN Tenant Survey Report Takes City Hall!

Peel ACORN members rallied at Brampton City Hall to release our 2025 Tenant Survey Report and demand strong landlord licensing.

Between May and June 2025, we surveyed 257 tenants across both cities. The findings show tenants paying more for housing in poor condition, with widespread repair needs and many waiting weeks, or never seeing issues fixed. Here are some highlights:

• On average, only tenants earning $70,000+ live in housing they can afford (where rent is 30% or less of income).
• 36.6% of respondents reported receiving an Above Guideline Increase in rent (AGI).
• 1 in 3 tenants reported seeing cockroaches in their building
• 39% of respondents were living with mold
• 88% of renters said their building needed repairs
• Tenants earning over $80K annually were more likely to have repairs done within 24 hours. Meanwhile, those on low incomes were more likely to have repair issues that were never resolved.

The report’s launch event, led by Brampton and Mississauga ACORN leaders Tanya Burkart and Marcia Bryan, highlighted the serious neglect tenants face, from pests and mold to broken elevators and extreme summer heat, and the lack of accountability for landlords who fail to maintain safe, healthy homes. Members shared their own experiences with unsafe and neglected housing, each with different stories but the same overall message: we need landlord licensing now.

Our Demands:

• Landlord licensing in all buildings.
• Annual proactive inspections with public posting of results.
• Pass/Fail coloured signs to hold landlords accountable.
• Escalating fines for landlords who don’t fix repairs.
• City-led remediation with costs charged to landlords.

Members chanted together: “Who are we?” “ACORN!” “What do we want?” “Justice!” “When do we want it?” “Yesterday!”

The action ended with members delivering the report directly to city staff to ensure councillors receive it and hear us loud and clear. People power!

Click here to read the full report!