Tenants held a rally earlier this month outside the downtown office of the real estate development company Dream Unlimited, which acquired the building in 2021. Padovani points out the building is among a handful that have had the highest number of applications for above-guideline rent increases in Toronto over the past decade. The owners also did not repay tenant over-payments which some tenants made before the rent increase was cut in half, she says. He says the option to apply for an above-guideline increase undermines the point of a rent control system. Victoria Podbielski, the press secretary for Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Steve Clark, says above-guideline rent increases allow landlords to "make capital-intensive upgrades to their units."

Source: CBC News April 17, 2023 22:50 UTC