By Leyla Goka
As the housing crisis continues and tenant struggles intensify, Toronto has a new city-wide tenant union. On April 18 the Toronto Tenant Union (TTU) held its founding convention, with the York-South Weston Tenant Union (YSWTU) expanding to the entire city.
The new TTU intends to be more active and incisive than a mere service provider, and will fight against the interests of real estate investment trusts (REITS), corporate landlords, private equity firms and serial renovictors. The combined influence of these real estate entities has resulted in the accelerated commodification of housing and the emergence of what the tenant union calls the Landlord Industrial Complex – a force that has taken control of housing policy and decides which housing is built and maintained.
Through its work, the TTU strives to bring justice to tenants who simply want what’s fair – to live comfortably in their homes.
Formed in 2017, the YSWTU initially serviced tenants in the northwest ward of York-South Weston with outreach, tenant rights’ education, advocacy, casework and other services. It gained significant growth and momentum, and its reputation and capacity grew when former co-chair and co-founder Chiara Padovani ran for city council on a progressive platform that focused on affordability, housing and climate justice.
Padovani’s campaign attracted the active endorsement of local environmental advocacy group Climate Justice Toronto, and the partnership that developed allowed for tenant union activities to become much more expansive, eventually organizing buildings in the downtown core and in Scarborough, the opposite end of the city to York-South Weston.
In 2023-24, YSWTU made headlines by playing a leading role in organizing the largest rent strike in Toronto’s history with 500 striking tenants unified against Dream Unlimited and Barney River Investments. Lack of upkeep and verbal abuse by property management, combined with excessive and improperly issued Above Guideline Increases (AGI) in rent, were too much for tenants to bear or afford. Many immediately fell into arrears. Their anger was further stoked because an AGI had been implemented despite a pandemic-related rent freeze being instated in Ontario.
One of the struggles peaked when Barney River refused to meet or negotiate with tenants and instead began an unlawful intimidation and harassment campaign. In December 2023, the sheriff and Toronto Police attempted to evict a tenant with no notice, which resulted in a three-day sit-in by over 100 neighbours in the building’s on-site property management office. The eviction charge was rescinded and the events further bolstered enthusiasm and solidarity amongst striking tenants.
After nearly 16 months, victory was reached with lower rents, compensation to reflect the significant repair backlog and, unprecedentedly, the YSWTU was made the official liaison between the tenant association and the landlord.
In 2025, a University of Waterloo School of Planning study found that corporate landlords charge 44 percent more on average than other types of landlords. This works out to an average of $670 more per month. The study focused on Dream Unlimited, which extracts about 10 percent more from their tenants. These figures are a powder keg in the ward of York South-Weston, where many rent strikers lived years before their buildings were acquired by these firms and where the median household income was just under $64,000 in 2020.
At the heart of the tenant union’s success has been its focus on empowering ordinary tenants who were apolitical until their exposure to brazen housing injustice and collective activism. Utilizing this to build tenant power and agency, the TTU centers on facilitating active and organized tenant associations with at least one lead member in each.
Fostering the ability of neighbours to connect, understand their rights and carry out their demands as unified groups has been enhanced by their commitment to prioritizing ordinary people and involving them in hard won achievements like those from the 2023-24 rent strikes. Under the banner of “Stronger Together” YSWTU was able to expand its work, particularly after mobilizing and supporting Ontario-wide actions in the wake of the Ford government’s omnibus Bill 60, which is set to slash Ontario tenant rights this June.
TTU’s founding convention culminated with the nearly 300 members in attendance electing a steering committee. In addition, a vision and structure document were debated, with a notable amendment excluding non-tenant members from voting on TTU matters. Three new branches were founded in Scarborough-Don Valley, Downtown and York-Etobicoke.
In a movement with an exceptional amount of moving parts and unlimited diversity of individuals, and where outcomes are difficult to predict, a crucial first step in mass organization has occurred in Toronto by founding this city-wide tenant union.
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