Resounding Victory at Landlord and Tenant Board for Jarvis Street Rooming House Tenants

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Inglewood Arms rooming house residents facing eviction win their rights to treated as full tenants

Residents of the Inglewood Arms, a rooming house in downtown Toronto, located at 295 Jarvis Street, are celebrating after the Landlord and Tenant Board found them to be tenants with full protection of the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 and not hotel guests as their landlord asserted. The order dated October 7, 2021 came after three days of hearings.

“It is a horrible thing to live at the whim of a landlord who slowly erodes the tenant rights that so many fought so hard to attain: even the most diligent and compliant of tenants will feel vulnerable and abused. I’ve lived at the Inglewood Rooming House for over 12 years and know many tenants who’ve lived there many years as well. Despite this, the landlord asserted we were mere hotel guests with no rights.

So adamant was the landlord and so important is this cause, I decided to challenge the landlord at the Landlord and Tenant Board for all my fellow tenants. The Board’s decision confirms that we are tenants and that we have rights that must be respected. This feels like a great weight is off of my shoulders,” said tenant Joseph Da Silva.

The approximately 90 tenants of the Inglewood Arms are now secure in the knowledge that they enjoy the same protections as other tenants under the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, including rent control and protection from arbitrary eviction. While Mr. Da Silva’s application addressed his tenancy specifically, the Board’s finding that the Inglewood Arms is a rooming house and not a hotel brings the entire building under the protection of the province’s tenancy legislation.

“When we first started talking to tenants in this building, there was a lot of fear. The tenants feared they could be evicted at a moment’s notice without legal recourse. A lot of folks here are elderly or on disability. Rooming houses are a viable affordable housing option for many in Toronto. This decision is a great step forward for the tenants” said Bob Rose, an organizer with the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty.

The Inglewood Arms has been proposed as the site for a new residential building. Tenants and their advocates have obtained assurances from the potential developer Tricon that they would be re-housed at their current rents. The LTB’s decision re-affirms the obligation of any potential developer to respect the rights of tenants in the process.

“We have met with City of Toronto officials and Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam. This decision confirms we have rights as tenants and we expect our rights will be respected by the landlord and that the developer lives up to its commitment to preserve affordable housing should the building be re-developed” said Mr. Da Silva. See video about the fight to save their homes by visiting https://youtu.be/_XrkEbNSU-8


Written by
Fred Alvarado

Journalist
FOCUS Media Arts Centre

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