Hundreds of Toronto residents are refusing to pay rent

More than 100 tenants in a three-building apartment complex in Thorncliffe Park are refusing to pay rent and striking against their landlord in protest of above guideline rent increases (AGIs).

More than 100 tenants in a three-building apartment complex in Thorncliffe Park are refusing to pay rent and striking against their landlord in protest of above guideline rent increases (AGIs).

Dozens of tenants of 71, 75, and 79 Thorncliffe Park Drive in Toronto stopped paying rent on May 1 after they were given a notice of the rent increases, which ranged from 4.94 to 5.5 per cent, despite Ontario's rent increase guideline for 2023 being 2.5 per cent.

PSP Investments, a Canadian crown corporation that manages pension funds for federal public service workers and others owns the buildings through its partner, Starlight Investments.

Tenants participating in the strike are accusing the owners of beginning renovations without properly notifying residents of the accompanying rent increases.  

PSP Investments has initiated the eviction process against tenants on rent strike at 71, 75, and 79 Thorncliffe Park Drive in Toronto.

According to residents, the building owners previously sought a rent increase of 4.2 per cent in 2022.

Thorncliffe Park is a densely-populated and multicultural community that's widely regarded as an "arrival city" for newcomers. Tenants —  some of whom have escaped war-torn countries to find a better life here in Canada — claim that the rent increases will force them out of their homes.

"Tenants are working together to fight the massive rent increases and defend their homes from those seeking to profit from displacement," a website dedicated to PSP displaced tenants reads.  
 
We’re not surprised our landlord wants us to sit and wait until the rent hikes are approved—at that point there will be nothing we can do to stop them.