The key message at our 10th annual National Housing Day service, from two tenant organizers, is that the fight to protect tenants never ends, but it does produce important victories.
Marc, co-chair of ACORN Hamilton’s downtown chapter, outlined the challenges of Bill 60—which was approved the next day. It shortens the time for tenants to pay late rents or to challenge Landlord and Tenant Board decisions; limits issues tenants can raise at eviction hearings; and ends compensation when landlords want to evict to use a unit for themselves or a member of their family if 120 days’ notice is given.
Amanda, the chair of the downtown chapter, said the new owner of her Emerald Avenue apartment building issued eviction notices within a week of buying the building. But tenants organized with ACORN and legal help and won at the Landlord and Tenant Board, which threw out the eviction notices because the landlord hadn’t proven tenants needed to be evicted to do the renovations. She noted how stressful the tenants found the attempted renoviction, with one tenant needing heart bypass surgery. Other wins include a Hamilton bylaw to protect tenants when a landlord wants to evict tenants for renovations—the first in Ontario. Amanda said that between 2017 and 2023, Hamilton had the second highest level of eviction notices for renovations in Ontario. Since the bylaw came into effect on January 1, 2025, there have been none. A Safe Apartments bylaw, to make sure rental units are safe, clean and secure, comes into effect on January 1, 2026. There’s also a Hamilton tenant support program that funds up to 200 legal cases a year.