PSP Displaces Tenants

Tenants at 71, 75, and 79 Thorncliffe Park Drive are on rent strike in protest of rent increases that will force people out of their homes!

Tell PSP Investments to stop the rent hikes

Tenants at 71, 75, and 79 Thorncliffe Park Drive in Toronto are fighting above guideline rent increases that will force people out of their homes and push them out of their community. They are being asked to pay a 4.2% rent increase for 2022 and rent increases of up to 5.5% in 2023, which they can’t afford. PSP Investments, a Canadian Crown corporation that manages pension funds for federal public service workers and others, owns the buildings through its partner Starlight Investments. Tenants are working together to fight the massive rent increases and defend their homes from those seeking to profit from displacement. Support tenants at 71, 75, and 79 Thorncliffe Park and tell PSP to withdraw the above guideline increase applications now!

Tell PSP's CEO to withdraw the above guideline rent increases at 71, 75, and 79 Thorncliffe Park

Send an email to Deborah Orida dorida@investpsp.ca

Use the template or send your own message

Dear Deborah Orida,

Tenants at 71, 75, and 79 Thorncliffe Park Drive have lived in their homes for many years and have deep ties to their neighbours and community. The proposed above guideline rent increases at the buildings only aim to force people from their homes when they can no longer afford rent.

Tenants are already struggling with high rents, low wages and fixed incomes. Meanwhile, the renovations conducted at 71, 75, and 79 Thorncliffe Park Drive help increase the value of your assets. It is unacceptable that multi-billion dollar organizations like Starlight Investments and PSP Investments would try to transfer the costs of these renovations on to existing tenants despite having the money to cover these expenses and invest in the maintenance of these buildings.

PSP claims to be committed to investing responsibly and ensuring its practices promote positive social outcomes. Displacing tenants in the midst of a housing crisis so that you can maximize returns is not socially responsible. This would mean removing people from their places of worship, their schools, their services, and their support networks and cultural communities in Thorncliffe Park.

Direct Starlight to withdraw the above guideline rent increases at 71, 75, and 79 Thorncliffe Park Drive now!

Thorncliffe Park tenants deliver a collective letter to Starlight’s head office demanding that Starlight withdraw the AGI applications. Across the three buildings, more than 650 tenants have added their names to this demand.

 
 

Tenants from 71, 75, and 79 Thorncliffe Park hold a neighbourhood rally in protest of the rent hikes.

What’s an Above Guideline Increase?

 

In Ontario, above guideline increases (AGIs) allow landlords to transfer the costs of certain renovations and repairs on to tenants, resulting in rent increases of up to 3% above the provincial rent increase guideline for 3 years in a row. Policymakers claim that AGIs allow landlords to maintain aging rental buildings. In reality, AGIs allow landlords to increase their profits on the backs of tenants, forcing people out of their homes when they can no longer afford rent. Once tenants are forced out, landlords bring in new tenants at much higher rent. Most AGI applications come from large corporate and financialized landlords. These are landlords making significant profits who can afford to maintain buildings without passing such costs on to tenants, increasing financial hardship, and pushing people out of their homes. Starlight Investments has applied for more AGIs than any other landlord in Toronto since 2012.

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