There are a growing number of rent strikes in Ontario. Frustrated tenants are risking eviction by withholding their rents to protest the rent hikes they face and the conditions in their rented homes. CBC Metro morning’s interview with organizer Bruno Dobrusin provides a useful summary of frustrations tenants are facing. https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-39-metro-morning/clip/16013054-why-buildings-york-south-weston-neighbourhood-joined-massive
In the interview, Dobrusin says that two buildings facing rent strikes have had six years of above-guideline increases of 3 per cent a year. In his comments, he underestimated the impact. The normal maximum increases from 2016 to 2022 would total 8.8 per cent. Those above-guideline increases approved by the Landlord and Tenant Board would have pushed up rents by 29.6 per cent, more than three times as much. On the $1,500 rent he mentioned, that would be a $444 rent increase.