Activists urge government to prioritize affordable housing over condos
Advocates marched through downtown Toronto over the weekend to call attention to rising rents and deteriorating living conditions, speaking out against corporate landlords for what they say is profit-driven neglect in the city’s rental housing market.
Organized by groups including the York South-Weston Tenant Union and 230 Fightback, the rally drew attention to the deteriorating conditions in purpose-built rentals and concerns about evictions.
Protestors carried oversized cockroach props and placards naming some of the country’s largest real estate owners, including KingSett Capital, Dream Unlimited, and Canadian Apartment Properties REIT (CAPREIT), as they marched to the companies’ offices.
“[Corporate landlords] have been jacking up our rents, but also not maintaining our units," Bruno Dobrusin, a member of the York South-Weston Tenant Union, told CBC News. "That's why we brought the cockroaches, because [it shows] what we have to live with."
Researchers from the University of Waterloo found that corporate landlords, including real estate investment trusts (REITs) and private equity firms, charge higher rents and increase them more aggressively than other landlord types. The top 25 financial landlords now control close to 20% of Canada’s private, purpose-built rental stock.
“We found that financial firms charged the highest premiums across the GTA, posting 44% higher rents, or $670 more, than local averages,” the researchers wrote.
By comparison, non-financial chain landlords charged around 30% more than the average, and smaller landlords raised rents by 15% to 22%. The rent disparities held true regardless of building condition, whether newly built or in disrepair.
Sherbourne street lot
The protest began at 214-230 Sherbourne St., a vacant lot that advocates have long urged the city to convert into affordable housing. Instead, the property was acquired in 2022 by KingSett Capital, a private equity real estate investment firm, with plans to develop a 46-storey condominium tower.
City officials had attempted to purchase the land at the time but were unsuccessful. According to James Wattie, spokesperson for the city-owned real estate agency CreateTO, negotiations with KingSett continued into spring 2023 but failed to meet the firm’s asking price.
Toronto Centre councillor Chris Moise said in a statement last July that council had directed city staff to keep discussions open with KingSett “to find solutions that ensure an affordable housing component is included in the development.”
Wattie confirmed those talks are ongoing, and that options could include acquiring the site “should funding become available and subject to council approval.”
‘Demoviction’
Activists argue the Sherbourne and Dundas area represents ground zero for Toronto’s housing crisis.
“Poverty is very visible here,” said Gaetan Heroux of the group 230 Fightback. “It’s important for us to have social housing on the lot… We’re in the epicentre of the housing crisis.”
Another protester, Megan Kee of the advocacy group No Demovictions, said she is personally affected by redevelopment pressures. She lives in an affordable 121-unit building near Yonge and Eglinton that is being demolished to make way for condos.
“A lot of people in my situation don’t have the financial ability to go anywhere else,” Kee said. “We’re sort of stuck.”
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Kee warned that profit motivations often take precedence over tenant wellbeing when corporate entities manage housing.
'“When a business is in charge of fundamental human rights, profit is always going to be the number one priority,” she said. “It’s not going to be human wellbeing. It’s not going to be quality of life.”
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