Toronto just got a city-wide tenant union; here’s what it means for renters

A well-known group of tenants and associations in Toronto’s northwestern area dedicated to protecting renters’ rights has recently expanded city-wide. 

While there are various protections for tenants in the city, advocating for yourself can often be challenging. Between complicated paperwork, ambiguous or vague rules, and ever-changing laws, it can be difficult to keep up. 

But renters in Toronto just got one more resource they can use to help them ensure their rights are being met, as the prominent York South-Weston Tenants’ Union is now expanding across the entire city. 
Now Toronto spoke with Jian Cheng, a Communications Coordinator with the newly-expanded Toronto Tenant Union to help renters find out what that means for them.

What is the Toronto Tenant Union? 

The original York South-Weston Tenants’ Union was first formed in the western Lawrence neighbourhood in Toronto about eight years ago. 

Since then, the group, formed by tenants and tenant associations, has been helping renters understand and fight for their rights. 

In 2023, the group helped organize a rent strike involving hundreds of tenants at 33 King St. and 22 John St. after their rent was raised above the limits determined by the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) for rent-controlled units. In that same year, it supported residents at 1440 and 1442 Lawrence Ave. W. to receive maintenance fixes after a separate rent strike. 

For the past three years, the union also worked in collaboration with Climate Justice Toronto (CJTO), a grassroots organization focused on climate action. 

Initially, the union operated on only certain neighbourhoods, including those south of Highway 401, between Humber River and east of Keele St. 

After Ontario proposed a controversial legislation last year, which was criticized by several experts for potentially leading to more homelessness in the city, several tenants in the city advocated for the group to expand. 

“We heard the opposition from many tenants there, and we told our story, and what we heard from them is that we needed a city-wide movement and tenants across Toronto [said], ‘We’re ready to take on this task to build a broader movement,’” Cheng said. 

Seeing the need for the service, the union decided to expand, with the help of Climate Justice Toronto, officially launching the city-wide Toronto Tenant Union on April 18. 

“Since the founding convention, many groups were already working on tenant issues [and attended the event]. Community groups on Parkdale from Toronto Centre, Regent Park, York Southwest, Etobicoke and Scarborough…They all have memberships and we welcome them” he added. 

How does the union work? 

According to Cheng, the tenant union works similarly to labour unions, using democratic processes to address issues and take actions. 

The union welcomes all tenants across the city, and is membership based. To get a membership, tenants have three options: 

• Contribute donation amounts monthly, starting at $10;
• Contribute annually starting at $60;
• Contribute with volunteer time. 

Members receive benefits including tenant organizing training, income tax clinic, tenant clinic, and free merch. They also get invited to community socials and events. 

“As a democratic movement, being a member means you get to make decisions collectively, and you can you can run for the roles [for] essentially all the positions we need to to grow this movement, to learn how to knock on doors and learn how to talk to tenants and how to welcome more people on board,” Cheng explained. 

Tenants can also contact the union to raise awareness about issues involving renters’ rights through its contact form, email or phone number available on the website. They can also visit the union in person at 2575 Eglinton Ave. W.

What kinds of issues can the union help with? 

According to Cheng, there is a wide range of issues that the Toronto Tenant Union can provide support for. 

The most common ones include the lack of maintenance fixes, rent increases above the guidelines stipulated by the LTB, and the risk of eviction. 

“We know what we have done successfully, or we have conducted many successful campaigns on [tenant rights] and we were willing to carry out this model. We can deliver this model to more neighbourhoods, and we know that tenants across Toronto need assistance, and they need information, and they all can become part of us,” Cheng said. 

“The importance of binding together as a city-wide tenant union is that we can have bargaining power everywhere. We can have tenant associations everywhere, and when we receive attacks from the governments who are coming at us, we have a stronger association of power to say, ‘No, this is not what people ask for.’”