When hundreds of tenants shut down the federal housing office in Ottawa earlier this month, I was part of a small group that managed to reach the 11th floor to demand a meeting with the minister.
Housing Minister Gregor Robertson’s office refused to listen to us. The department even threatened tenants with arrest.
More than 300 tenants from across the country filled the lobby of the Ministry of Housing, triggering a building shutdown. We continued to occupy the office for more than an hour, chanting and flooding MP phone lines.
Before we left, we delivered our formal letter of demands.
The June 8 demonstration was organized by ACORN Canada — a community union made up of everyday low-to-moderate income people. We are the largest tenant union in the country with 190,000 members across 23 cities.
Our action was an escalation that followed months of unanswered emails, letters and phone calls to the federal housing minister. All we want is for the government to give tenants a seat at the table as they consult on the renewal of the National Housing Strategy — a process that seems to currently be done in secret.
If the government wants to solve the housing crisis, they must stop ignoring the people living through it. That’s why we brought our demands directly to them.
No blank checks to build housing that is not affordable
The purpose of our national tenant action was to point out the hypocrisy in Canada’s approach to housing. Federal programs like Mark Carney’s Build Canada Homes are giving billions to the provinces and cities to fund housing development — with no strings attached to developers.
As a result, provinces are given a blank check to build housing that is not affordable while simultaneously allowing corporate landlords to steamroll tenants’ rights and raise rents.
ACORN is calling for all housing funding to be made conditional on meeting national standards that include tenant protections.
First and foremost, we need real rent control in every province with no loopholes. Second, we need bans on no-fault, no-cause, and bad-faith evictions. Third, we need an end to fixed-term leases. Finally, we need guaranteed security of tenure for all renters.
The ‘supply myth’ and the leaky bucket
We are demanding that the Carney government stop using federal funds to fill a leaky bucket. Housing supply is only half the solution, and by not making efforts to protect existing affordable housing, federal policy is aligning with the interests of those who profit off the crisis.
Why is the government only consulting the development industry?
It is not surprising that our federal housing strategy focuses solely on increasing housing supply — when the voices and experiences of tenants are not heard or considered.
Developers and corporate landlords are the ones who stand to benefit from the construction of new housing that is increasingly exempt from rent controls and not required to be affordable. When you hear from tenants, you learn what ordinary Canadians need. Building more luxury and market-based apartments or small geared-to-investors condos will not fix our housing problems.
Where is social housing in the government’s rhetoric about supply, supply, supply?
There is clear evidence that building social housing is more cost-efficient over time than building shelters or providing housing subsidies. Yet the government refuses to build at-scale the kind of housing we actually need. As a result, Canada’s total stock of non-market housing currently sits at a shamefully low 3.5 per cent compared to the international average of 6.9 per cent.
This failure to build more public housing is compounded by an even harsher reality: our affordable stock is bleeding out. Between 2016 and 2021, Canada lost 230,000 affordable rental units on the private market. This means that while the government hyper-focuses on building new market based units, we are losing 46,000 genuinely affordable units every year.
Provincial laws give landlords free rein to destroy affordable housing
Much of this loss happens because provincial laws give landlords free rein to destroy housing. In Nova Scotia and Alberta, landlords abuse fixed-term leases that expire every year instead of automatically rolling over month-to-month with the lease terms remaining in effect. What happens as a result? Landlords force tenants to move out so they can hike rents for the next tenant. Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Newfoundland have zero rent control, meaning landlords can increase rents by whatever amount they want.
In most provinces, landlords also use so-called renovictions or false claims of family moving in to displace tenants and increase rents.
In Newfoundland, tenants have zero security of tenure so landlords can evict tenants for no reason at all. In Ontario and B.C., the provincial governments maintain loose rules around Above Guideline Increases (AGIs) and Additional Rent Increases (ARIs). The tribunals rubber-stamp landlord applications to raise rents above the annual guideline and pass the cost of repairs onto tenants. In Ontario, ACORN’s analysis of Landlord and Tenant Board data found that 80 per cent of AGIs are filed by corporate landlords with billions of dollars in assets.
Paving over affordable housing to build less
The federal government is complicit in this destruction of affordable housing. Programs like ‘Build Canada Homes’ funnel billions to provinces and cities to build developments after existing units have been demolished. This crisis is rampant in Surrey and Ottawa. In Ottawa, the Herongate neighbourhood has become synonymous with demovictions – ie. evicting tenants and demolishing affordable housing.
Herongate, a working-class immigrant community, made international headlines when tenants organized against Timbercreek (now Hazelview) to fight two mass demovictions. Though ACORN secured some concessions for tenants impacted by future phases of Hazelview’s “master plan,” the City ultimately approved the demolition of hundreds of affordable townhomes for luxury rentals.
Now, Ferguslea Properties plans to turn Accora Village into “Herongate 2.0.” They are seeking rezoning to redevelop Canada’s largest privately owned rental community, a move that would tear down nearly a thousand three- and four-bedroom townhomes where many long-term tenants pay $1,000/month below market rent. Meanwhile, the City of Ottawa has received 150 million dollars from the federal government to build 1,100 rental units. Just 200 of them will be deeply affordable for low-income tenants.
Fixing the leaky bucket: a lesson from healthcare
The government often claims they cannot control the provinces because housing is outside federal jurisdiction. But we know this isn’t about jurisdiction. Health is also outside federal jurisdiction. However, the Canada Health Act forces provinces to provide healthcare for all as a condition of receiving federal dollars. The National Housing Strategy must do the exact same thing. It’s time for the federal government to use their massive financial leverage to force the provinces to create tenant protections.
Until they do, the government will keep pouring money into a leaky bucket, and ACORN will keep showing up.
Alejandra Ruiz-Vargas is a housing worker originally from Colombia who has been involved with ACORN since 2015, and has served as the president of ACORN Canada since 2024.
