Parkdale tenants call victory after landlord backs down on retroactive increase
Tenants in a west-end Toronto apartment building have ended a months-long rent strike after their landlord withdrew an application that would have retroactively increased rents by more than what provincial guidelines allowed for 2025.
The action at 75 Spencer Ave., in Parkdale, involved more than 30 units withholding rent beginning in March after property manager MetCap Living applied to the Landlord and Tenant Board for an above-guideline increase (AGI). Tenants said the company’s application, if approved, would have raised rents by 5.4 per cent, compared with the provincial maximum allowable increase of 2.5 per cent for rent-controlled buildings in 2025.
MetCap Living, which remains the property manager after the building changed ownership in May, did not respond to a request for comment. Earlier this month MetCap vice-president of operations Michael Guyette told The Canadian Press the company had applied for an AGI — its first in 16 years.
“We won because we stayed strong and united. We were always committed to seeing this through to the end.”
The statement was issued by tenant Luz Flores, who is among those living at the Parkdale address. Tenant advocates and organisers hailed the withdrawal of the AGI application as a victory and said the case demonstrates the potential of collective tenant action.
“The rent strike won because our neighbours did the thing that everyone talks about but almost no one does: they formed an independent organization, stepped outside of legal and political convention, and directly confronted their landlord,” said Bryan Doherty of Parkdale Organize, a tenant advocacy group. The organisation has supported tenants through outreach and coordination during the withholding.
Context: AGIs, provincial guidelines and tenant organising
Under Ontario’s rent framework, landlords may increase rent by a percentage set annually for rent-controlled units, but may also apply to the Landlord and Tenant Board for an AGI to fund eligible capital work or repairs. Tenants at 75 Spencer said the application sought an effective increase well above the 2025 guideline.
Advocates say this case comes amid a broader surge in tenant withholding and rent strikes across the city in recent years, driven by what residents describe as deteriorating building conditions, unaffordable rent increases and frustration with avenues to resolve disputes.
- Location: 75 Spencer Ave., Parkdale (west-end Toronto)
- Tenants withholding: More than 30 units began withholding in March
- Proposed AGI: Would have resulted in a 5.4% rent increase (retroactive)
- Provincial guideline for 2025: 2.5%
The Parkdale development joins other high-profile tenant actions in the city. On Sept. 1, roughly a dozen families in a Scarborough mid-rise began withholding rent to pressure their landlord to withdraw separate back-to-back AGI applications filed for 2025 and for the current year.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Building | 75 Spencer Ave., Parkdale |
| Tenants involved | More than 30 units |
| Requested increase | 5.4% (retroactive if approved) |
| Provincial guideline (2025) | 2.5% |
| Property manager | MetCap Living (managing under new ownership since May) |
The outcome in Parkdale is likely to be watched closely by tenants and landlords citywide. For tenants, it represents a rare instance where coordinated withholding coincided with the withdrawal of a formal AGI application. For landlords and managers, it underscores the reputational and operational risks of pursuing retroactive increases when tenant-organising and public scrutiny are high.
Municipal leaders and mayoral candidates have made housing a central issue in recent election cycles, and the persistence of organised rent actions could inform policy debates about tenant protections, enforcement of building standards and the role of provincial boards in adjudicating capital-related rent increases.
As Parkdale tenants celebrate the reversal, tenant groups in Scarborough and elsewhere continue to withhold rent to press their own landlords to retract AGI applications — a sign the broader conflict over affordability and maintenance remains a live political and social issue in Toronto neighbourhoods.
