A Major Demoviction Win for Etobicoke Tenants: Organizing Works

Lake Promenade tenants and their neighbours in Long Branch, Etobicoke, have won a major victory in protecting their rent-controlled rental homes, highlighting what tenants can accomplish when they work together.

After years of organizing, advocacy and community mobilization, the Lake Promenade Tenants Association (LPTA) and the broader Long Branch community, including the Long Branch Neighbourhood Association (LBNA), together with City Councillor Amber Morley’s intense support  have successfully challenged a massive redevelopment proposal at 220, 230 and 240 Lake Promenade and 21 and 31 Park Boulevard.

The proposed redevelopment would have demolished five existing seven-storey rental buildings (containing 548 units) and replaced them with seven new buildings/towers ranging from 12 to 29 storeys, including both rental and condominium units, quadrupling density. The proposal would have displaced the existing rental households during a lengthy redevelopment process – up to 15 years.

The developer appealed the City's failure to make a decision on the application to the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT), setting up a major battle over the future of the site. And now, the proposed demoviction and redevelopment will not be moving forward. LPTA was able to participate in the OLT process and mediation, despite the risks involved in becoming part of a complex and potentially costly legal proceeding. The Tribunal granted LPTA party status after the association provided documentation confirming its incorporation and its legal support via CCHR - Canadian Centre for Housing Rights.

That's a huge win for the Lake Promenade community.

But another important part of this story deserves recognition: before the OLT decision, Lake Promenade tenants had already organized to win meaningful protections in case redevelopment and displacement did proceed. In particular, rights for “post-application tenants” (tenants who move in after the development application is submitted) that are rarely won when tenants take on City Planning and developers. 

Tenants organized for protections–and won them. 

These protections included:

• A right to return at the rent they were paying before the demoviction, if redevelopment proceeded.

• A role in determining mitigating supports for tenants living through construction, including measures such as air filtration.

• A phased approach to redevelopment that would allow tenants to remain in their homes while adjacent buildings were demolished and then move into completed buildings, rather than simply being displaced from the entire site.

And importantly, these protections were won through tenant organizing.

Then the community fought the development itself

The tenant fight did not happen in isolation. The Lake Promenade Tenants Association worked alongside community organizations and neighbours who were also deeply concerned about the scale and impacts of the proposed redevelopment.

The Long Branch Neighbourhood Association became a party to the OLT proceeding, while LPTA and many other community members participated in the process. The City also opposed the application in its then-current form.

Ahead of mediation, approximately 200 people came out to a community rally organized by LBNA and LPTA, and that public show of support mattered.

It demonstrated that this wasn't simply a dispute between a developer and a handful of tenants. It was an entire community saying that the future of Lake Promenade deserved serious consideration.

Patti and the Lake Promenade tenants led the fight

At No Demovictions, we have had the privilege of working alongside Patti since 2023 (fun fact about Patti: she can really rile up a crowd – just hand her a megaphone!). 

But we want to be very clear: Patti and her neighbours led this fight.

They organized their building. They built relationships with their neighbours. They showed up to meetings and Community Council hearings. They learned how the planning system works. They worked alongside community organizations. They participated in mediation. They mobilized their community. And they refused to accept that displacement– or, redevelopment on the developer's terms– was inevitable.

Their organizing created the conditions for this victory.

Congratulations to Patti, the Lake Promenade Tenants Association and all of their neighbours.

The lessons for tenants facing demoviction

There are important lessons here for tenants across Toronto facing rental displacement.

1. Organize early

Once a development application reaches the OLT, opportunities for tenants to participate can become much more limited. The Lake Promenade experience shows why tenants need to get organized while an application is still being considered by the City.  Numerous tenant advocacy organizations can help tenants get organized: Federation of Metro Tenants Associations, Toronto Tenants Union, and Toronto ACORN – and No Demovictions, all of which supported the LPTA. 

Giving deputations at Community Council and participating in the municipal planning process is particularly important. If an application is ultimately appealed to the OLT, tenants may have far fewer opportunities to put their concerns on the record if they had not previously voiced objections.

2. Fight for adequate tenant protections–they aren’t automatic

What the Lake Promenade tenants won was not simply handed to them–they organized to win. They dedicated thousands of collective volunteer hours, riddled with anxiety and overwhelmed, to win the battle the city should have been fighting for them. One common claim we hear from City Councillors across Toronto when tenants come to them for help with a rental demolition is: If you try to fight the demoviction at the OLT, you will lose everything – including the compensation and entitlements laid out in the City of Toronto’s Tenant Assistance Plan (TAP). 

We know that isn’t true: the OLT process has no bearing on the City’s TAP. 

Lake Promenade tenants pushed forward with participating in the OLT process and negotiated an even better deal than the City’s TAP offered, in case the redevelopment application succeeded at the OLT. Their Councillor, Amber Morley, didn’t wave tenants and residents off– she supported their goal to get to the OLT and have the case heard. 

3. Tenant organizing should connect with broader community organizing

Issues such as shadowing, neighbourhood impacts, infrastructure and the scale of development carry significant weight in the planning and OLT process. Meanwhile, tenants are often fighting for things the planning system is much less equipped to address: displacement, affordability, tenant rights and the social costs of redevelopment.

Bringing those struggles together can create much greater power.

This is what tenant power looks like

The Lake Promenade story is not simply a story about stopping a development. It is a story about tenants refusing to be passive participants in decisions being made about their homes. It is a story about tenants organizing for protections, even when the odds were against them. It is a story about tenants building relationships with their neighbours and broader community for the common good. And it is a story about what can happen when people collectively decide they know more about the needs of their community than some wealthy developer. 

The proposed redevelopment may not be moving forward, but the organizing that made this victory possible must continue. There are still over 100 demoviction applications in the City of Toronto, where tenants are at every stage of negotiation, sometimes remaining in limbo about the future of their homes and communities.

While less than 1% of tenants win at the OLT, this win shows it can happen. LPTA’s lawyer is in shock, and thrilled by the outcome. 

Congratulations to Patti and Julie, Co-Directors of the Lake Promenade Tenants Association and the entire Long Branch community. You organized. You fought. And you won.