Shanice is a tenant in a building without rent control in the northwest Toronto neighbourhood of York South–Weston. Her original 2019 rent of $1,550 has now exploded to almost $2,300.
She has been getting rent increases of anywhere between 10 to 15 per cent a year, with another increase coming this year.
While most rental units in Ontario have rent control, Shanice’s doesn’t.
Ontario’s previous Liberal government expanded rent control to all units in Ontario in 2017, which severely limited rent increases that tenants had to face.
But that was quickly overturned when Doug Ford’s PCs were elected in 2018. His government exempted all new rental units from rent control.
Since then, rental prices and homelessness have continued to spiral out of control.
Shanice became a member of the York South–Weston Tenant Union (YSWTU) and fought a rent strike at her building against her landlord, Dream Unlimited.
The developer got $7 million in funding from the federal and provincial governments to build the building on John Street.
But now the units face constant turnover due to rent increases.
“It’s been a disaster, to be honest,” Shanice says.
Waiting for the next rent increase is one of the hardest parts. “It’s scary. I get anxious. It’s nerve wracking.”
She works three jobs, but her wage increases don’t match the rent increases.
Moving to another unit also isn’t much of an option. “If I move to another unit it will be the same amount,” she says.
Chiara Padovani, co-chair of the YSWTU, believes the Ford government is directly responsible for these impacts.
“Every single one of his policies has resulted in rents going up. Every new home that gets built without rent control increases rents everywhere,” she says.
“Tenants have no housing security whatsoever; they never know what their rent is going to be next year, and a high number of people are…forced out because they can’t afford their rent increase.”
The number of rental unit constructions has increased to its highest level in decades. There were 5,779 units built in 2023 in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area. Unfortunately, none of these have any rent control. So landlords can raise the rent to any level they want, for any reason.
AVERAGE MONTHLY RENTAL COSTS:
- In 2010:
- $1,425 in today’s dollars (adjusted for inflation)
- In 2022:
- $1,732 in today’s dollars
- Average starting rent for a one-bedroom apartment in a new building, January 2025:
- $2,950
Sources: Toronto Star, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, rentals.ca, Urbanation, Vistoo
This article appeared in the 2025 Feb issue.