More than 100 tenants in two residential buildings northwest of Toronto will begin a rent strike starting today, Sunday, joining nearly 500 residents who stopped paying since early summer.

The tenants, residing at 1440 and 1442 Lawrence Avenue West, claim that their landlord, Barney River Investments, has refused to address serious repairs in the building while trying to implement rent increases.

Chiara Padovani, co-chair of the York South Weston Tenants Union, said this Sunday morning: “Everyone is feeling extremely frustrated about their situation.” “But today they feel a great deal of confidence, [...] as if the movement is growing.”

The tenants were scheduled to publicly announce the action at 2 p.m. in the residential complex.

Meanwhile, local media reached out to Barney River Investments for a statement yesterday, Saturday, in response to the tenants' claims, but they did not receive a reply.

According to Padovani, the deteriorating conditions in the residences in northwest Toronto, including a pest infestation, have reached a level where Canada Post stopped delivering mail to the residences due to unsafe working conditions.

Padovani states that the building elevators are often out of service - which is a concern for residents - and that the garbage chutes have not been properly maintained.

She added: "If you walk between the buildings, you can always smell something foul."

She explained that although conditions have been tough for tenants, the landlord's demand for rent increases is what pushed the group to act in this manner.

Padovani also said: "It makes things worse, as not only is the landlord not fixing the issues, but they are charging rent higher than the guidelines."

In April, the group said they submitted a petition to the property owner, signed by the majority of residents, demanding better maintenance, but found no seriousness in addressing the requests.

Residents on Lawrence Street will join hundreds of tenants from 33 King Street, 22 John Street, and 71, 75, and 79 Thorncliffe Park Drive in Toronto who have been withholding rent payments - many of them since June - criticizing the unlawful rent increases and the deteriorating state of their homes.

Padovani said the group is approaching nearly 500 tenants, representing the largest collective rent strike in Toronto's history.

She clarified: "This is the first time that so many buildings [in Toronto] have gone on a rent strike due to the same issue."

What’s new on King and John and Thorncliffe Park?

Padovani says more and more tenants are joining the efforts in the buildings on King and John Streets, but the property owner, Dream Unlimited, continues to refuse to negotiate with the group.

She said: “They are entering their fifth month of the strike.”

Recently, Toronto's Mayor Olivia Chow reached out to both Dream Unlimited and the tenants in an attempt to mediate the situation.

However, tenants said the property owner was unwilling to respond to this initiative, instead recently starting to issue eviction notices. She said: "It is extremely shocking that the landlord prefers to evict hundreds of tenants rather than sit down and actually negotiate the real concerns that tenants are bringing to the table."

Meanwhile, local media contacted Dream in response to the recent claims that it was unwilling to participate in mediation efforts.

The company previously stated to local media that it has always been open to accommodating tenants facing payment difficulties, but "is concerned that tenants are receiving bad advice as they are responsible for paying rent, and will need to pay rent in order to stay in the buildings."

The company also emphasized that the rent increases were inherited from the previous owner, stating that it has not applied for any of these increases since acquiring the properties in 2021. Meanwhile, tenants in Thorncliffe Park, whose homes are owned by Starlight and PRP Investments, attended eviction hearings this week.

Amid the threat of eviction, the group continues to demand that the property owner withdraw rent increases that exceeded the guideline, which, according to documents reviewed by local media, ranged from 4.94 percent to 5.5 percent in 2023.