Prominent Toronto tenant union expands citywide
On April 18, tenants from across the city will gather for the founding convention of the Toronto Tenant Union
Gabe Oatley, Apr 6, 2026
A prominent tenant union based in Toronto’s northwestern corner that has helped prevent evictions, halt rent increases and force landlords to complete building repairs is going citywide.
On April 18, tenants from across the city will gather for the founding convention of the Toronto Tenant Union — a new, collaborative effort by the York South-Weston Tenant Union and Climate Justice Toronto, a volunteer-led environmental group.
Chiara Padovani, co-founder of the York South-Weston Tenant Union, said her group was motivated to launch the new organization in order to respond to a growing “movement” of tenants looking for support with rising rents or sub-standard housing conditions.
Members of the York South Weston Tenant Union have engaged in successful rent strikes in recent years and tenants in other parts of the city have begun to pay attention.
But being a locally focused organization, the tenant union hasn’t had the resources to offer much support to people beyond the borders of York South-Weston.
Padovani said she hopes the launch of the new Toronto Tenant Union will lead to the creation of many more building-level tenant associations citywide, enabling neighbours to fight back together against challenges they’re collectively facing.
“Tenants have been feeling so ignored — so neglected,” she said. “And this tenant union has risen out of that feeling … it has turned that feeling of total disempowerment into a feeling of empowerment.”
Attention for rent strikes
Over the past several years, the York South-Weston Tenant Union has become one of Toronto’s most “active” and “vocal” tenant groups, according to tenant lawyer Sam Mason.
In 2023, the group helped several hundred tenants at neighbouring buildings in Weston engage in a rent strike that lasted for more than a year, demanding landlord Dream Unlimited halt above-guideline rent increases.
Later that year, the tenant union also supported dozens of residents at 1440 and 1442 Lawrence Ave. W. to undertake a separate rent strike, which forced the buildings’ shared landlord to fix maintenance issues in around 100 units.
Though rent strikes have drawn much attention to the group, York South-Weston Tenant Union volunteer organizer Arpan Das said the organization uses a variety of tactics to pressure landlords.
Often, the tenant union starts by helping tenants send collectively authored letters to their landlord, which is sometimes enough to get action, Das said. Other times, the union has helped residents engage in a “311 zap,” where tenants choose the same day to report maintenance issues to the city, bringing about increased municipal scrutiny.
Mason, who works for Parkdale Community Legal Services and runs his own law firm dedicated to tenants’ rights, said the York South-Weston Tenant Union’s methods have established the group within the “zeitgeist” of the city’s tenant movement.
He said he believes their citywide expansion will be positive for tenants.
“There are plenty of buildings without an affiliation to a tenant union or tenant association,” Mason said. “Any type of exposure or assistance to them to self-organize, I think would be helpful in ensuring that tenants are able to live in affordable and decent housing.”
The Toronto Tenant Union
At the founding convention of the Toronto Tenant Union later this month, attendees will set the group’s priorities, Padovani said.
She said the organization will be democratically run, much like a labour union, and members will pay a membership fee, which will help support the operations of the tenant union.
Both of the group’s founding organizations — the York South-Weston Tenant Union and Climate Justice Toronto — will be folded into the new organization, according to spokespeople.
While Padovani has played a major role with the York South-Weston Tenant Union, she said she will not have a formal position in the new tenant union because she plans to run for city council in October’s municipal election. It will be her second attempt at trying to unseat Coun. Frances Nunziata in Ward 5, York South-Weston. (Nunziata beat her by less than 100 votes in 2022.)
Though initial marketing of the founding convention has only recently begun, Padovani said there has been considerable interest.
Beena Ruparelia, a resident of north Etobicoke, is one tenant who has already signed up to attend.
In an interview with TorontoToday, Ruparelia said she has been struggling with little success to prompt her landlord to undertake needed maintenance for many years.
She said that knowing a group like the Toronto Tenant Union will soon be able to help her to take action with her neighbours has made her feel hopeful.
“Now, I feel I’m not alone,” she said. “It needs to spread. We need a voice.”
www.torontotoday.ca/local/real-estate-housing/prominent-toronto-tenant-union-expands-citywide-12105372
