Press Hits

Residents and advocates in Kitchener are pleading with city council to take action against landlords who are using renovations as an excuse to evict them from their homes in order to turn a profit. The process is known as a renoviction when a landlord evicts a tenant by claiming they will complete renovations, which range from complete overhauls to a simple paint job. The price of the unit will often increase, sometimes dramatically, when the landlord begins to search for a new tenant.

La semaine dernière, un comité municipal avait rejeté un rapport de l’administration municipale qui déconseillait l’adoption d’un tel règlement. Elle indiquait que les relations entre propriétaires et locataires relèvent de la compétence provinciale et que la mise en œuvre et l’application d’un tel règlement pourraient s’avérer coûteuses. Le nombre d’avis d’expulsion a bondi de 483 % en 5 ans et plusieurs organismes de défense des locataires, comme l’ACORN,
Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now se sont mobilisés pour demander à la Ville d’agir.

The Calgary Real Estate Board (CREB) is cautioning that Calgary’s housing market could be impacted by tariffs imposed by Donald Trump. CREB released its 2025 regional housing market forecast for Calgary on Tuesday. The report serves as an in-depth analysis of the housing market, highlighting key trends and economic factors expected to shape 2025.

Despite renoviction requests in Ottawa having almost quintupled in the last six years, city staff have recommended delaying a bylaw that would require landlords to justify evicting tenants. A staff report which was to be discussed at Planning and Housing Committee this Wednesday acknowledged that “it is highly probable that unlawful evictions are occurring in the community.”

So-called “alternative lenders” face new limits on how much interest they can charge borrowers following changes to the Criminal Code that came into effect with the New Year. The changes reduce the criminal rate of interest from 47 per cent APR (annual percentage rate) to 35 per cent APR. It’s a victory for activists following years of campaigning, but they’re calling on Ottawa to do more to fight predatory lending.

A proposed renovictions bylaw is a hot topic. City Councillor for Somerset Ward Ariel Troster joined us this morning to discuss.