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TORONTO – In the middle of the small crowd – near the tents, the group of children waiting for face painting, the snack table – stood jubilant Chiara Padovani.

“When I say ‘tenant, you say ‘power,'” he ordered several dozen tenants, who chanted back eagerly.

What looked like a summer block party in front of two north-end Toronto apartment buildings last month was a celebration of what renters who withheld payments for months called a “huge victory.”

The Landlord and Tenant Board had issued an interim order requiring Barney River Investments, which managed the properties at 1440 and 1442 Lawrence Ave. West, carry out immediate maintenance on long overdue repairs.

The decision, which could be the first of its kind according to the tenants’ lawyer, came after a 10-month rent strike.

“When tenants just like you come together – organize together, celebrate together, eat together and work together – we win,” Padovani declared in the meeting.

Other tenants are taking the same gamble: since May 2023, Toronto has seen a wave of such strikes where hundreds of renters have withheld rent across the city.

First, residents of 71, 75 and 79 Thorncliffe Park Dr in the east end of the city stopped paying their rent. Then, tenants at 33 King St. and 22 John St. on the west side of the city the same.

Last October, more than 100 tenants of the Lawrence Avenue buildings followed suit, seeking emergency repairs in dozens of units and withdrawing requests the landlord filed with the board to increase rent above provincial guidelines.

The northerners were the first to see results, as tenants in the other buildings are still waiting for hearings at the Landlord and Tenant Board.

Lawrence Avenue tenants said they did everything they could to resolve the issue before withholding rent, from sending petitions, trying to meet with the landlord, talking to local politicians and making calls to the city — to no avail. The problems went unsolved, they said: broken tiles, mold on ceilings, holes in the walls that gave cockroaches and mice easy access.

“This rent strike really started as a last resort,” said Padovani, founder of the York South-Weston Tenants Union which represents tenants on Lawrence Avenue and in two other buildings.

During the August 1 hearing, Patrick Shea, an adjudicator at the Landlord and Tenant Board, granted a temporary order to carry out repairs.

“I am satisfied that the tenants have presented a strong prima facie case that they will be entitled to an order to remedy those matters,” he said of the dereliction, according to a recording of the hearing obtained by The Canadian Press.

He also ordered tenants to resume paying their rent on 1 August.

A final decision in the case – on rent increases above the proposed guideline and maintenance in common areas – has not yet been made, but “addressable issues should be addressed in the meantime in the meantime,” Shea said.

The Canadian Press made several unsuccessful attempts to reach Barney River Investments for comment, including phone calls, emails and a personal visit to the corporation’s office in downtown Toronto.

Tenant Yogesh Khatri said the landlord began inspecting units in need of repair less than a week after the board’s order came.

“They have to check all the units. They have to fix all the problems,” he said.

Rashid Limbada, who has lived in his building for more than three decades, welcomed the news: “Everyone is happy.”

But another dispute remains, Limbada said, referring to the landlord’s attempt to get tenants to pay higher-than-guideline rent increases.

In Ontario, landlords are allowed to increase rent without the approval of the Landlord and Tenant Board up to a threshold set by the province each year. The rent increase guide for 2024 was set at 2.5 per cent, the same rate as the previous year. The guidance does not apply to new buildings first occupied as residences after November 15, 2018.

The board’s interim order could inspire more tenants to move for their rights, argued Ricardo Tranjan, a political economist at the Canadian Center for Policy Alternatives.

“Every victory, every victory of a tenant group is a victory for the tenant class,” Tranjan said.

Now is an important moment, he says, when groups are clearly getting stronger — and bolder.

People are protesting outside landlords’ offices, advocating with local politicians and presenting group petitions more than ever in cities like Ottawa, Vancouver and Montreal, Tranjan said, even though rent strikes have not been as common historically.

That could be on the cusp of change, he said.

Tenants in arrears of rent at 22 John St. before the Landlord and Tenant Board this week. A hearing is expected over 33 King St. in October.

Those in the Thorncliffe Park Drive buildings are still awaiting a hearing date.

One tenant there, Sameer Beyan, explained that the central issue is requests for rent increases above the guide. Tenants tried to tell the landlord that many families live on fixed incomes and cannot afford the extra rent, but the effort failed, he said.

“They don’t want to talk to us. They don’t want to respond to us. So we have increased our actions to hit rent,” Beyan said.

For those celebrating on the Lawrence Avenue lawn last month, the process is not over yet, but the board’s interim decision has given them a boost.

“If they don’t make these repairs, there will be consequences,” Aliah El-houni, a lawyer representing the tenants, told the assembly.

“We don’t know of any other interim orders like this that have ever been granted by the board,” said El-houni, co-director of the nonprofit Community Justice Collaborative.

“And this is not because we killed him in court. This is because you killed him on the ground.”

This report was first published by The Canadian Press on September 20, 2024.