{"id":492745,"date":"2026-02-22T21:16:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-22T21:16:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/492745\/"},"modified":"2026-02-22T21:16:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-22T21:16:09","slug":"toronto-residents-launch-campaign-calling-on-city-rentsafeto-for-support-to-address-repairs-mold","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/492745\/","title":{"rendered":"Toronto residents launch campaign calling on city, RentSafeTO for support to address repairs, mold"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Residents in the Jane and Finch neighbourhood have launched the \u201cRepairs Can\u2019t Wait\u201d campaign to demand the city properly enforce its RentSafeTO program, saying they’ve faced countless issues with mold, pest infestations and incomplete repairs in their homes.<\/p>\n

Tenants met on Saturday with ACORN Toronto at the York Woods Library to discuss concerns with their living conditions. They also raised issues they had with the city\u2019s level of transparency regarding inspections and accountability of landlords.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost people [are] living with no good conditions and they are having no support from anyone,\u201d said Cirey Decer with Toronto ACORN.<\/p>\n

She said many of her clients have reported a lack of support from city staff, even after calling 311 to navigate landlord-tenant disputes or to address much-needed repairs.<\/p>\n

RentSafeTO is a city program launched in 2017 to ensure rental buildings comply with maintenance standards. CBC News reached out to the City of Toronto for comment.<\/p>\n

Decer says city staff addressing these situations need more training and support to be able to help tenants.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo ensure they are able to work in this, to review the building, \u201d she said. \u201cIf you are limited in your qualifications \u2026 then how can you help people who are renting these places.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"WomanKrista Williams, a resident in the Jane and Finch neighbourhood, said it’s been over a month since she requested support from RentSafeTO for unaddressed repairs to her home. (Chris Lagenzarde\/CBC)<\/p>\n

Resident Krista Williams says she\u2019s frustrated with RentSafeTO after she called in January for help with an issue in her home.<\/p>\n

They told her that they would check back in two weeks to see if her landlord addresses the issue and would proceed to help if the situation hadn’t changed \u2014 but nothing has happened since, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cTwo weeks is too long, because why do I [still] have a leak under my sink from January 5th,\u201d she said. \u201cIt is now almost March, why is it this long before somebody does anything?\u201d<\/p>\n

She said ACORN stepped in to send a \u201cwork order blitz\u201d for repairs to the building\u2019s management, which led to no changes. While doubtful, she said the city is expected to come by\u00a0on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Decer said a list was sent to RentSafeTO with issues raised by tenants that haven\u2019t been solved yet. Until then, the group plans to keep organizing until concerns are resolved.<\/p>\n

Williams hopes that the meetings will create more awareness for the situation tenants are in.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we stand together, we can make a difference,\u201d said Williams, adding she will attend future meetings \u201cto get the ball moving for other tenants.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to this article Estimated 3 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":492746,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194291],"tags":[49,48,3302],"class_list":["post-492745","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-toronto","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-toronto"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/492745","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=492745"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/492745\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/492746"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=492745"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=492745"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=492745"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}