Tenants at an Ontario Street building have been fighting above-guideline hikes before the Landlord and Tenant Board.
Tenants Saleh Waziruddin, left, and Joan Coburn of 158 Ontario St. in St. Catharines have been fighting above-guideline rent increases from their landlord, a real estate investment trust, for more than three years.
After years of waiting, tenants of a St. Catharines apartment building who are challenging above-guideline rent increases may soon see their concerns addressed.
For almost three years, tenants of 158 Ontario St., a 75-unit, 10-storey building near Montebello Park downtown, have been contesting the increases.
They first appeared in a pre-hearing conference before a Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) tribunal Oct. 6, 2025, as parties attempted to negotiate an amicable solution.
InterRent, a $4-billion multi-residential real estate investment trust operating about 13,000 residential suites across Canada, purchased the St. Catharines property in 2020 and soon after started renovations to common areas and balconies.
The Standard reached out to Renee Wei, InterRent’s director of investor relations and sustainability, and company lawyer Martin Vervoort for comment, but received no response.
Some tenants say proposed rent increases at the building could make them homeless.
Tenants face a combined increase of about eight per cent, with a 2.5 per cent provincial allowable rent increase from 2023, and a further 5.5 per cent for balcony restoration and the addition of LED lighting retrofits, said documents filed with the LTB.
An online LTB hearing was held Jan. 26 for tenants and the landlord to submit written documentation. An adjudicator was expected to reach a decision on the case within 30-60 days, but no decision has been issued as of publication.
Joan Coburn, 86, a former building superintendent who has lived in the building for more than 30 years, said she saw minimal rent increases under the previous landlord, but since InterRent started renovations in 2022 and filed for above-guideline increases (AGI) in 2023, on average her rent has risen about $70 per month.
“Every year, I get this humongous (rent) raise, so I end up calling,” she said.
“I said, ‘Look, I’ve got a computer. I can do my own math, and I know 2.5 per cent doesn’t come up to that.’”
Under LTB rules, tenants must start paying the AGI increase right away or hold the potential rent increase amount when the AGI is filed. Any outstanding balance between tenants and landlord must be settled upon final judgment or tenants could face eviction and landlords could face penalties.
Coburn counts herself lucky she has supportive family. But even so, as a pensioner on a fixed income, she has had to take drastic measures to afford rent.
“I eat a lot of macaroni. I don’t buy meat anymore,” she said.
“I sure as hell don’t buy a case of beer,” she said half-jokingly.
“As long as I can afford to keep my car on the road,” she said, adding her six grandkids last year put new tires on her vehicle and this year paid for her underground parking spot.
Coburn said the baseboard heaters in her apartment have not worked properly since being installed last summer, and she had to buy a space heater after requests to have the matter fixed went unaddressed.
As superintendent, Coburn said she kept on top of building issues, including replacing the hot water tank, addressing electrical issues and replacing windows.
“These guys (InterRent) came in and threw some polish on it to make it look good,” she said. “They ripped out the old carpet and put in new carpet and painted the corridors dull black.”
LTB documents filed by InterRent, and provided to The Standard by tenants, said the REIT is seeking a 5.5 per cent AGI increase dating from renovations started September 2022, with papers filed once work was completed in 2023.
LTB usually limits AGIs to a maximum of three per cent annually, to a maximum nine per cent over three years.
In the LTB papers, InterRent said balconies and LED light retrofitting cost more than $712,000.
The tenants’ response said had InterRent done its due diligence, it would have known the state of the balconies when buying the property.
“The balconies had been deteriorating for many years prior to the purchase, indicating deferred maintenance by the previous owner,” said the response.
“Costs incurred to remedy deferred maintenance are not eligible for AGIs under the Residential Tenancies Act and its regulations.”
According to the Tribunals Ontario website, “expenditures for routine maintenance or work that is substantially cosmetic in nature are not considered to be capital expenditures and cannot be claimed in the application.”
Geraldine Purdy, a pensioner on a fixed income, has lived at 158 Ontario for more than 20 years and also struggled this past winter with no heat due to faulty baseboard heaters.
Each time she complains, she said, nothing happens. Purdy believes it’s a way to make her and others paying below current market rent choose to leave.
“They want us out, that’s it,” she said. “That’s why they never fixed anything.”
Purdy fears as AGIs continue, she and others like her are going to be slowly priced out.
“I’m going to run out of money. I’m not going to get a job at this point,” she said.
“Coming in here, I said this is my last move. I’m not moving again. They’re going to have to carry me out of here.”
Purdy said she has family, but won’t impose on them should she be unable to afford rent.
“They have a life of their own. They don’t need me hanging around,” she said.
“My granddaughter has her house, but (has) her baby, and my grandson just bought a house, so, I can’t go with anybody and my brother’s here.”
In response to AGI concerns, the renters recently formed a tenant association to advocate for themselves.
Its president, Saleh Waziruddin, said tenants don’t have the luxury to breathe easy.
“In the (LTB) pre-hearing held in October, the landlord-tenant representative tried to get a negotiation (started) between the landlord and the tenant, and the landlord only went down one per cent,” he said.
Tenants voted unanimously to turn down the offer, Waziruddin said.
“We’ve got nothing to lose. (The landlord is) only going down one per cent, so let’s say no and fight this, because now it can’t get any worse (than what is offered),” he said.
“We don’t know what the result will be until the LTB makes its decision,” he said. “We know if the 5.5 per cent (from the AGI) … goes through, that will hurt a lot of people.”
