A national housing advocacy group delivered about 400 stories of renters' difficulties in dealing with large corporate landlords to federal offices in 10 Canadian cities today.
The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN, held rallies in cities including Toronto, Halifax, Vancouver and Ottawa as they provided the testimonials to Liberal MPs and to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.
The tenants describe how after their rental units were taken over by real estate investment trusts or large companies, they often faced higher rents, and — in some instances — poor maintenance.
The group made the deliveries as their national spokesperson, Tanya Burkart, joined with other advocate groups providing testimony to an online federal review panel that is examining the impact of rental housing being bought up by large investment firms.
The testimonials were also provided in August to the federal review panel, which will report to the federal housing minister next year.
According to a summary of reports prepared for the Federal Housing Advocate, released last year, financial firms began consolidating ownership of family housing in the late 1990s, and an estimated 340,000 suites are now owned by the largest financial firms in the country.
The report, by Martine August, says institutions hold an estimated 20 to 30 per cent of multi-family rental units, "with consolidation increasing each year."
