Press Hits

Dozens of residents at 1270 and 1280 Webster Street learned less than a week before their Landlord Tenant Board (LTB) hearing that their landlord had dropped an appeal that was filed in April 2023. In response, tenants joined forces with the tenants’ advocacy group ACORN and held several protests. Their efforts gained the attention of city officials, who passed London’s renoviction bylaw in September 2024.

City councils in Toronto, Hamilton, Ottawa, London and New Westminster are asking the question. Are renoviction bylaws a step too far or not far enough? Join Ian Hanomansing on CBC Radio One, CBC Listen and CBC News Network.

Ottawa renters need to earn more than double the minimum wage to afford a vacant one-bedroom apartment in the capital, according to a new report. The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives released a report titled “Making Rent: The CCPA’s rental wage update 2024” on Thursday, looking at the hourly wage needed to afford rent while working a standard 40-hour week and spending 30 per cent of their income on housing.

LaSean Ebanks, a Black renter and co-chair of Peel ACORN, said the region has seen a sharp rise in no-fault evictions — including N12 notices used when a landlord or one of their immediate family members intends to move into a unit, and N13 notices filed so the landlord can conduct demolitions or major renovations. ACORN’s analysis of Landlord and Tenant Board data found Brampton had the second-highest number of N12s in Ontario between 2017 and 2021, with 1,193 notices. Between 2017 and 2022, the city also saw a 230 per cent increase in N13s. However, Ebanks said those figures only capture official filings to the Landlord and Tenant Board. “In our direct work, we’ve encountered many more cases where tenants were pressured, intimidated, or made to feel they had no choice but to leave without formal due process,” he said.

A provincial advocacy group held demonstrations in downtown Moncton and Fredericton on Friday to call for an energy rebate program for low-income New Brunswickers. New Brunswick ACORN, which advocates for tenants’ rights, climate justice and fair banking, hosted the rallies to push for a low-income energy rebate program, a moratorium on rate hikes and a winter disconnection ban for residential ratepayers. The group is asking New Brunswickers to sign a petition that also asks for full funding of the Enhanced Energy Savings Program and an arrears management program with flexible payment options and debt forgiveness.

Tenants at a public housing building in London are renewing calls for London and Middlesex Community Housing (LMCH) to fix persistent pest infestations, rotten floors, mould, leaky ceilings and other problems in their units. Thursday was the second time residents protested outside 85 Walnut Street — this time with a photo display they call “a gallery of horrors” to showcase the chronic issues in their units. Tenants say not much has changed since their last rally in March. The 232-unit building is geared to low and middle-income renters, and mostly inhabited by seniors. Many say they’ve had enough and shared their experiences alongside ACORN, a tenants’ advocacy group.