Evictions and displacement in areas near global cities, such as the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), have been on the rise in the past decade. The fifth episode of Prevention Matters!, The Many Faces of Urban and Rural Displacement, was hosted by Stephen Gaetz (Canadian Observatory on Homelessness) who interviewed three members of The Many Faces of Urban and Rural Displacement Project: Yvonne Kelly (Social Planning Network of Ontario), Dylyn Reid-Davis (Social Planning Council of Kingston & District), and Brian Doucet (University of Waterloo). They discussed the expansion of Ontario’s housing and rental unaffordability crisis into areas further from the GTA and the issue’s roots in the lack of policies to sustain affordable housing.
The Social Planning Network of Ontario (SPNO) & The Many Faces of Urban and Rural Displacement Project
“…[The Social Planning Network of Ontario (SPNO) has] thirteen active social development and social planning councils across Ontario, doing important work, including social research, equity and anti-poverty work, education, advocacy and coalition building.”
Yvonne Kelly, who currently sits as SPNO’s chair, introduced the coalition to highlight the housing crisis in all thirteen of these communities—including the smaller ones—outside the big cities. The Many Faces of Urban and Rural Displacement project stems from the SPNO, aiming to utilize testimonials to drive counternarratives highlighting the negative impacts of various development projects on local communities. Dylyn Reid-Davies, who worked as a local engagement coordinator, spoke to the project’s importance on a personal level: “[…] Moving [as a tenant] from Toronto to a smaller community, it was hard to go from a place where there was abundant resources, abundant support, abundant histories of tenant organizing, and strategies of resistance to a community where this was more subdued, where this was currently being built, but not something that had a fleshed out legacy that we were able to draw on easily.”
The SPNO holds a strong focus on centring the voices of tenants and those with lived experience of displacement in policy-making, creating advocacy-driven counternarratives, and working on the ground to build relationships with those affected as well as with politicians and leaders to advance tenant support and advocacy efforts to preserve affordable housing.
“Displacement is much broader, much deeper, much [more] far-reaching and comprehensive.”
Brian Doucet explains that “at its core, [displacement is] an involuntary move.” A lot of the time, the moves tenants experience will look voluntary on paper, but this is after formal, informal, and semi-formal threats of eviction. The past few years have seen a soaring increase in N12 and N13 eviction notices on the grounds that the landlord intends to either move in themselves or renovate or demolish the unit—a commonly used semi-formal eviction tactic.
“Who wants to leave their home under the best of circumstances, and now they’re leaving their home facing all these new stressors and new challenges.”
Yvonne Kelly also points out the loss of community and opportunities for those affected. She has worked with families who were living out of cars, those who had to leave the region, those who had children lose their places in special programs they had waited for, and community members who lost resources, such as doctors they had seen for decades because they had been forced to relocate. There are divides in communities on a social level, as pre-existing community members get priced out of their own communities. They then see their spaces populated by new arrivals to the community who commute long distances and would likely prefer to live closer to their workplace. Displacement increases the risk of trauma, homelessness, and involvement with child welfare.
Dylyn Reid-Davies noted that several tenants who participated in the project in Kingston were disabled. Since disability is accommodated under the Ontario Human Rights Code, landlords have to accommodate it. However, tenants, who are disabled continually find themselves being evicted. It’s a traumatizing experience across the board, and many people consequently lose faith in the systems that are meant to support them. Dylyn Reid-Davies states, “If they run into a situation where they find themselves displaced again, they might not be as willing to turn to the support set out for them, because they were not there for them.” Yvonne Kelly also mentions that this may be due to the rising numbers of people facing displacement and the lack of adequate support for them, leaving organizations to have to pick and choose cases.
“Without regulation, even the housing we’re building will not be affordable for long.”
In Canada, 33% of households are renters, and with the current trends in housing costs, it seems it will stay that way. Many parties, such as homeowners, who are more actively heard by figures such as politicians benefit from rising housing costs. Although the government continues to subsidize private developers to build affordable housing, a driving force behind the ongoing housing affordability crisis is the lack of rent controls and regulations in tandem with the business-like operations of “landlording.” Yvonne Kelly highlights the rampant evictions, renovictions, and demovictions throughout York Region in tandem with the rising rents in all areas along the 401.
“Where are people going and how far are people willing to live?”
Yvonne also comments, “It’s almost like those who are in decision-making power think that everyone has a car [and] everyone has someone with a truck that can move them.” However, several of those she interviewed were people who relied on public transit and whose jobs and sources of income were at risk as they were unable to sustain their commuting routines due to displacement. Support from the government for those who are displaced is also largely financial and insufficient for those who do not have the resources needed to move themselves.
What can be done?
- Education and community engagement around eviction prevention: Yvonne Kelly states, “To us, eviction prevention is about understanding your rights and having the support of your community and others to stand your ground when something is happening.” Many Social Planning Councils are unfunded and volunteer-based, hosting community information sessions to help community members learn their rights and how to advocate for themselves. Tenants can better understand the rental environment by staying informed and looking at statistics (such as the rental vacancy rate and average rent data from Statistics Canada and the CMHC). Dylyn-Reid Davies emphasizes the community aspect of eviction prevention, which involves helping one another out through advocacy to fill in the gaps of exhausted resources in addition to tenant organizing and bolstering tenant voices for governmental change.
- Rent control: “The incentive to evict tenants is the lack of rent control on a unit when it’s vacant.” Brian Doucet advocates strongly for rent control, citing the Hamilton bylaw focused on preventing bad-faith renovictions as a key step in ending homelessness.
- Replicating tried-and-true methods: The mixed-income housing in the St. Lawrence neighbourhood in Downtown Toronto has stood the test of time and could be combined with uses of public land, similar to the creation of the YWCA Kitchener-Waterloo which was funded by the Government of Canada on unused public land. Brian Doucet highly advises researching, revisiting, and re-implementing strategies used domestically and internationally to find more ways to create affordable housing options.
- Vote and advocate: Voting for candidates committed to investing in social housing, tenant protections, and rent controls is a simple way for anyone to make a difference. Multiply that individual action by the millions of tenants who might not be voting regularly and you have something that can make a difference. Typically, homeowners and business owners are listened to more than tenants, so bolstering tenant voices to ensure that they are heard through methods like voting and advocacy will provide politicians with a different perspective. It would be beneficial to have business owners in particular advocate for affordable housing due to its benefits in areas like employee retention.
- Reinvest in ongoing community initiatives: For those interested in non-profit housing, look to work with someone who already has a project in the works and may need some funding to get the project off the ground. The Social Planning Network of Ontario is connected to various initiatives and can assist in helping to find some in your area.
Interested in more diverse perspectives on homelessness prevention? Learn more about Prevention Matters!