REST Centres Applauds Toronto's Anti-Renoviction Measures as Model for Protecting Vulnerable Youth
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Aug. 18, 2025
CONTACT:
Elie Ngoy Wa Kasongo
A REST Centres perspective on protecting vulnerable renters and building inclusive communities
MISSISSAUGA, ON, Aug. 18, 2025 - As a black-led, BIPOC-serving organization working to end youth homelessness in Peel Region, REST Centre's applauds Toronto's implementation of the Rental Renovation Licence By-Law in 2025. This groundbreaking policy requiring landlords to obtain permits before conducting renovations that displace tenants represents exactly the kind of proactive, equity-focused approach needed to address Canada's youth homelessness crisis.
The Hidden Impact of "Renovictions" on Youth
While much attention focuses on building new housing, Toronto's anti-renoviction measures tackle an equally critical issue: protecting existing affordable housing from predatory practices that devastate families and vulnerable youth.
REST Centre's emphasizes that the Bylaw's success must be measured by how effectively it protects families and Black youth, who are disproportionately impacted by housing insecurity due to systemic racism in housing, employment, and education. When families are forced out through renovictions, young people, particularly those aging out of foster care who are already 200 times more likely to experience homelessness, lose not only their housing but also the stability of school, community, and family supports.
"Renovictions don't just displace tenants, they disrupt families, break community ties, and push youth closer to homelessness," said Dagma Koyi, Executive Director of REST Centres. "For Black youth, who already face disproportionate barriers, this instability can have lasting impacts across generations." Toronto's renovation licensing requirement exemplifies a smart policy that creates accountability while supporting legitimate improvements, a balanced approach that prioritizes protecting vulnerable families and youth over profit.
Expanding Tenant Protections to Other Jurisdictions
While we recognize Toronto’s leadership in strengthening tenant protections, we see an opportunity for similar measures to be adopted in Peel Region. Many of the youth we serve live or seek housing across the GTA, including areas where such protections are not yet as robust. Extending these measures would help ensure consistent housing security for vulnerable youth.
Key lessons from Toronto's approach:
Proactive Prevention: Rather than responding to displacement after it occurs, Toronto prevents it through upfront licensing requirements. This is far more cost-effective than providing emergency housing services.
Rights-Based Framework: By anchoring policy in human dignity rather than market dynamics, Toronto creates space for equity-focused solutions that prioritize the most vulnerable residents.
Integrated Strategy: Housing policy doesn't exist in a vacuum. Toronto's alignment with poverty reduction, climate action, and seniors' strategies recognizes that stable housing enables success across all life domains.
Community Engagement: The HousingTO plan emerged from extensive public consultation, ensuring affected communities had voice in shaping solutions.
The Youth Perspective: Why This Matters
From our work with young people experiencing housing insecurity, we know that stability—even in imperfect housing, often provides the foundation needed for education, employment, and healing from trauma. Renovictions shatter this stability, forcing youth to start over repeatedly.
For BIPOC youth, who face additional barriers including systemic racism in housing markets, preserving existing affordable units is particularly crucial. When a young person finally finds a landlord willing to rent to them at an affordable rate, protecting that housing relationship becomes essential for their long-term success.
Moving Forward: Building on Toronto's Foundation
Toronto's Rental Renovation License By-Law represents important progress, but effective implementation requires robust, proactive enforcement that goes beyond complaint-based responses. We call on municipal leaders across the GTA to implement similar protections with proactive landlord compliance monitoring, culturally responsive tenant supports for Black and BIPOC families, and community partnerships that provide wraparound services during housing transitions.
Provincial government must expand tenant protections for youth aging out of care, while federal partners recognize that housing security requires coordinated action across all levels. Community organizations must continue documenting how housing instability affects young people, ensuring policy makers understand the human impact of their decisions.
Our Commitment
REST Centres' Bridge of Hope Program connects homeless and at-risk youth to landlords, provides rental subsidies, and delivers wraparound supports through an innovative head leasing model that addresses systemic barriers for Black youth in the rental market. The new by-law, if strongly enforced, aligns with these efforts by reducing unfair evictions and keeping rental units affordable for vulnerable communities.
Our Family Intervention and Reunification Management (FIRM) Program addresses family-level challenges that can lead to youth homelessness, supporting the principle that family stability is crucial for prevention. While REST Centres provides transitional housing and wraparound services, we recognize that systemic change like Toronto's anti-renoviction measures is essential for addressing root causes rather than symptoms.
Bridge of Hope exemplifies this dual approach: providing immediate housing solutions while advocating for policy changes that make long-term security possible. When municipalities implement strong tenant protections, programs like ours operate more effectively, creating stable foundations for youth to build independent lives. REST Centres' vision—that families should live in safe, affordable housing with dignity—requires both direct service innovation and systemic policy change. Toronto's leadership offers hope and a roadmap for amplifying community-based programs like ours.
REST Centres is a black-led, BIPOC-serving charitable organization working to end youth homelessness in Peel Region. We provide transitional housing and support services to youth experiencing or at risk of homelessness, including those leaving the public care system. Learn more at restcentres.org.
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