Brampton residents rally against exploitative landlords

Brampton residents rallied on Sunday in front of city hall, calling for additional help from the federal and provincial government to combatexploitative landlords in the city.

Locals say illegal rooming houses are putting renters at risk and making neighbourhoods unsafe.

"I think the worst case scenario is loss of life," said resident Kasia Devlin, who attended the rally.

"There's going to be a fire and there's going to be a situation where someone can't get out, because the windows are not safe or there is no exit."

Devlin said the federal and provincial government should help out by investing in "safe, affordable homes" in the city.

Michelle Gauthier, who also attended the rally and is a landlord herself, says illegal rooming houses have been a growingissue in Brampton overthe past two years.

She says about 30 per cent of the houses on her street have turned into rentals and illegal rooming houses.

"We really love that feeling of community, and we're afraid it's disappearing," Gauthier said.

Many protesterssupport rental licensing program

Many residents at the protest expressed their support for the city's Residential Rental Licensing program.

The program, which began this January, isa pilot project that aims to crack down on rental units that violate health and safety rules.

Last week, Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown said the project has led to 4,700 home inspections and over 600 penalty notices.

Gauthier said 20 students were living in a neighbouring house for a year. She said they were frequently loud at night and were difficult to manage.

After the rental licensing program was introduced, she said the students were replaced with a family.

"I would liken it to having fourweeks of vacation after 10 years of working sevendays a week," Gauthier said. "It was an unbelievable relief."

Some landlords have criticized the pilot project, saying it costs them money, makes them do paperwork and, often, their tenants are to blame for the issues flagged by city inspectors.

Illegal units can be 'fire traps': Brampton mayor

The mayor of Brampton told CBC Toronto some units can become "fire traps" when landlords do not meet ventilation requirements.

Neighbourhoods with illegal rooming houses are seeing rat infestations because garbage is not picked up, Brown said.Cars also crowd available parking spots, preventing snow from being removed in the winter, he said.

WATCH | Residents attend rally on Sunday:

Brampton residents hold rally to counter illegal landlords

1 day ago

Duration 2:48

Protesters gathered in front of Brampton City Hall Sunday to call for additional help combatting what they say are 'exploitative' landlords. As CBC's Britnei Bilhete reports, demonstrators say their neighbourhoods have become unsafe and expressed support for a city policy that others are calling unfair.

"I've had long-term residents say, 'if you don't deal with this, we're going to leave town,'" Brown said.

The mayor said the federal government's limits on international student visas has helped Brampton's housing issue.

He says the city has about 100,000 international students.After the federal restrictions were introduced, he said academic institutions are now "scurrying" to build more housing for international students.

"They realize that these very lucrative visas are at stake," Brown said.

Brampton councillor Rowena Santos, who represents Ward1 and Ward 5, is on the task force for the pilot project.She said Brampton faces a housing crisis and has been chronically underfunded for years.

The result has been some landlords exploiting young people, international students and vulnerable populations, she said.

"The city can't solve all these issues," she said. "This is a downloaded issue in consequence of other levels of government who are not giving us the support and funding that we need."

Santos said Brampton has an underreported population of newcomers.

"It's an underground market of housing and we are trying to catch up to regulate it," she said.