Press Hits

Oscar Carrillo has spent the past eight years living in an affordable housing unit at Kwantlen Park Manor in the Surrey neighbourhood of Whalley. But pressure is building for Carrillo to vacate his apartment. A developer, RBI Group of Companies, is eager to start redeveloping the site… Protesters were joined by representatives of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now or ACORN, a tenancy rights advocacy group. Residents were only emailed a few Craigslist rental listings occasionally, according to ACORN. ACORN representatives shared with Postmedia an email sent to the remaining residents on Aug. 7 by Leslie Brock, vice-president of property management at Pacific Quorum. In it, she wrote: “Our notices about shutting off the power/water to the property are simply as a courtesy to the 2 last remaining tenants in the building.”

The Rental Renovation Licence Bylaw was implemented on July 31 and is designed to protect tenants from ‘bad faith’ evictions by their landlords under the guise of a renovation — an increasingly common tactic critics say is used by landlords to evade rent control and increase rent prices. Renovictions have been on the rise in Toronto and the province for the past decade, and became a “massive” issue in the last five or so years, said Alejandra Ruiz Vargas, president of ACORN Canada. Since 2017, there has been a nearly 50 per cent increase in the number of N13 notices filed in Toronto, according to a 2024 renoviction report by ACORN. “I know a couple that has been renovicted three times last year,” Ruiz Vargas said, adding that the bylaw’s implementation is a “huge win” for renters.

Last year, an advocacy group for low-income renters known as ACORN found that a “negligible proportion” of its membership received public funds to buy an air conditioner or heat pump. A majority of the 737 people who responded to a survey reported poor sleep, fatigue and headaches from excessive indoor heat. In Moncton, N.B., Peter Jongeneelen — vice chair of ACORN New Brunswick — said that during a recent heat wave, he was admitted to an ER because he was suffering from heat exhaustion. He said people living on disability pensions need help, “(but) there’s no real programs out there in New Brunswick. It’s something we would like to change.” Meanwhile, the number of people showing up at emergency rooms with heat-related problems continues to rise. Last month, Health Canada reported this type of case rose from about 600 in 2004 to about 1,100 in 2023.

The City of Toronto’s Planning and Housing Committee approved a motion that could increase the standard of living that landlords must uphold for their tenants. By this time next year, landlords will be required to post colour-coded signs in building lobbies that display a score based on their compliance with maintenance standards. The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) says it’s been lobbying for these changes for years. Jaden Lee-Lincoln discussed the motion with Stacey Semple of ACORN.

Christena Abbott is a senior living in a highrise apartment in Toronto. On the day we spoke, the temperature was 31 C. It was the first of what ended up being a three-day heat wave. “I have asthma, I’m diabetic, on insulin. I have six pinched nerves … and I cannot take heat at all,” she said. Well, she’s also a leader at ACORN Canada (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now), a community union of low- and moderate-income people advocating for better rights. And that building she’s living in? It was built in 1967. But this year, her building owner, WoodGreen — Toronto’s largest non-municipal affordable housing provider — is retrofitting the building with new, more efficient windows. Next year? Heat pumps that will provide cooling to all of its residents. Ultimately, WoodGreen is looking for a zero-carbon building certification.

And they have assured residents there will be no rent increase.