Toronto ACORN

05/12/2026

Today, the City of Toronto’s Executive Committee passed a $1 million expansion to the Free Air Conditioner Program — which will fund the provision and installation of 2400 air conditioners in time for this summer!

This a nearly fivefold increase over last year’s budget allocation, and will ensure that every person that applied to the program will receive an air conditioner.

However, we know that this is only a short-term intervention. Tenants need a maximum indoor temperature bylaw that caps temperatures in their apartments at 26°C, and we’ll continue to organize until every tenant is safe, healthy, and cool in their apartment.

Wanna join the campaign to Beat the Heat? Contact Toronto ACORN at (416) 461-9233 or [email protected]!

05/06/2026

Today, a small but mighty crew delivered a letter to their MPP Mohamed Firin, demanding that he meet with Weston ACORN. With the passing of Bill 60 and an AGI epidemic, tenants expressed concern of being priced out of their homes. To make matters worse, there is prospective development in the neighbourhood with no mention of affordable units.

Staffers popped out of MPP Firin's office to check out the protest, but when we rung the doorbell with hopes that someone would accept our letter, we were met without response.

Live in Toronto and want to organize a tenant union in your neighbourhood? Call 416-461-9233 or e-mail [email protected]! 🚩🚩🚩

05/02/2026

Twenty years after we first doorknocked in 500 Dawes Road, repairs are finally getting underway on the landlord’s dime. That’s what organizing can do.

Join us on Monday morning at 10:15AM outside 500 Dawes Road for a press conference. We’ll see you there!

04/30/2026

Send the Province a message here:🔗 https://acorncanada.org/take_action/repeal-bill-60-doug-fords-more-evictions-faster-act/

04/23/2026

Today, Toronto City Council voted to strengthen the RentSafeTO program by:

• Introducing a colour-coded signage system for evaluating Toronto apartment buildings and a plan for rolling them out across the city this summer.
• Reweighing evaluation scores to penalize landlords for more serious infractions, like broken elevators.
• Creating a policy framework for remedial action so the City can fix up deteriorating buildings and bill the landlords for the work.

This is alongside the investments that have been made over the last couple years in expanding the size of the team of RentSafeTO bylaw enforcement officers.

Make no mistake, these changes *will* help Toronto tenants. We’ve been calling for these measures for years.

But there’s more to fight for, like universal work orders and in-unit inspections. We were happy to see ’s motion to investigate expanding the RentSafeTO program to more properties, ensure bylaw officers are engaging tenants door-to-door, and find more ways to provide RentSafeTO information directly to tenants. We’ll be back at City Hall soon to push for these changes and more, but for now, we celebrate!

Build Power - Demand Change - Share Victories - REPEAT! 🚩

04/23/2026

$200 A MONTH FOR PARKING? NO WAY!

Fresh off their victory beating down Golden Equity’s above-guideline rent increase application last winter, the Trudelle Street ACORN Tenant Union in Scarborough has set their sights on a new grievance: outrageous parking fees! 💲📈🚗

Some tenants are paying as high as $200 a month for their parking spots. Meanwhile, cars get stolen, broken into, towed, and ticketed all while management sits by and does nothing.

So WE decided to act! We delivered a letter to the management office and mailed a copy to Golden Equity’s head office in Montréal. All we’re asking for is a meeting.

The ball’s in Golden Equity’s court. The tenant union will meet again next month, and if we don’t get a meeting offer by then, they better be ready to hear from us again!

Live in Toronto and want to organize a tenant union with your neighbours? Reach out to Toronto ACORN at (416) 461-9233 or [email protected].

GET ORGANIZED! FIGHT BACK! JOIN ACORN! 🚩

04/21/2026

The RentSafeTO program is supposed to work for tenants. While it’s come a long way since we first won the program in 2017, we need to GIVE RENTSAFETO TEETH! 🦷

📝 Use the link below to write an email to Council telling them to stand up for tenant protections!

https://acorncanada.org/take_action/give-the-rentsafeto-program-teeth/

Have a landlord horror story? Have you been let down by City bylaw officers? Tell us about it! ⬇️

04/17/2026

$$ for jets and not for housing? We're calling bs. Send Ford a message in support of a rent grant program here: https://acorncanada.org/take_action/stop-the-bill-60-eviction-wave-demand-an-ontario-rent-grant-program/

A month after FordNation cuts the housing budget by $347 million he buys a challenger jet... 😑🤦🏽‍♀️

If Ontario has money for private jets, we've got money to keep people off the streets and in their homes!

ACORN is fighting to prevent tenants struggling to pay rent from becoming homeless. ✊ Send Doug Ford a message in support of an Ontario Rent Grant Program (he can read it from the plane! ✈️).

✉️📢 Email template here: https://acorncanada.org/take_action/stop-the-bill-60-eviction-wave-demand-an-ontario-rent-grant-program/

04/16/2026

IT’S FINALLY HAPPENING! 🛠️

“This letter is to inform you that [the] City intends to proceed to remediate the uncompleted work on Monday, April 20, 2026 up to an estimated cost of $120,000.00, which may include ongoing work for inspections and treatment. […] If you or anyone else interferes with the repairs/replacements being made by the City a charge of obstruction may be laid.”

That is part of a letter that the City of Toronto delivered today to the landlord of 500 Dawes Road, informing them that remediation work is going to be getting underway on her dime.

Repairs are finally getting done. Comprehensive pest control is on its way. Canada Post has resumed mail delivery to the building. ACORN members in the building are calling our office to say they’re getting the first good night sleep they’ve had in years.

This is what tenant organizing can do.

Of course, the work doesn’t stop here! We’re still fighting to give the RentSafeTO program teeth. Other buildings across Toronto also need remedial action. There’s plenty more to do — and slumlords in Toronto are on notice!

But for today, our members are celebrating! 🎉

04/11/2026

We surveyed over 300 Toronto renters, and the results WON’T shock you! 😱

🪳 44% deal with cockroaches
🛏️ 14.5% live with bedbugs
🥶 41.3% faced low or no heat last winter, while
🥵 60.5% faced extreme heat last summer
🛠️ 43.7% say their landlord doesn’t do repairs in a timely manner, and
🗣️ 30.1% felt threatened or targeted for speaking out, submitting work orders, or raising complaints to their landlord.

On Tuesday, the Planning and Housing Committee has an opportunity to give RentSafeTO the tools to lower these statistics and ensure that every tenant in Toronto has a safe and healthy home.

JOIN US AT CITY HALL!
🗓️ Tuesday, April 14, 2026
⏰ 9AM
📍 Toronto City Hall

Can’t join us! Write to the Mayor and your City Councillor! Use the email template in our bio to get started.

Contact the Toronto ACORN office at (416) 461-9233 or [email protected] for more information.

04/09/2026

After years of relentless organizing, ACORN and the City of New Westminster have made history—again! ✊🏙️

New Westminster has officially become the first city in Canada to pass a maximum heat bylaw, proving once again that when tenants organize, we WIN! 🏆📢

For too long, tenants have been left to swelter in dangerously hot apartments, told by landlords that they couldn’t even install their own A/C units (something that the City of New West also banned in 2025). But ACORN members know that extreme heat is a matter of life and death. 🌡️⚠️

New Westminster has a track record of boldly going where no council has gone before—starting with BC ACORN 's flagship Living Wage bylaw win in 2010 and the renoviction ban in 2019, both of which resulted in massive wins across the province for higher wages and expanded tenant protections. Now, by passing the first maximum heat bylaw in Canada, ACORN is proud to be a part of history once again! 📜✨

What’s Next? This is a massive win for climate justice and tenant rights, but we aren’t stopping here. No tenant should have to choose between paying rent and staying cool during a heatwave. 🧊🌍

So which Canadian city will be next? Members of Toronto ACORN Hamilton ACORN Ottawa ACORN London ACORN Peel ACORN Waterloo Region ACORN Alberta ACORN Nova Scotia ACORN New Brunswick ACORN are vying for it to be theirs. 🏁🏃‍♀️

JOIN US! 🤝🔥