In this episode of the New Housing Alternatives podcast, hosts Cherise Burda and Ren Thomas are joined by Ricardo Tranjan, senior researcher at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives and author of "The Tenant Class." Together, they explore the evolving landscape of tenant rights, the growing influence of corporate landlords, and the urgent need for tenant-focused research and organizing to confront Canada’s affordability crisis. The conversation provides deep insight into power dynamics, policy history, and the challenges and opportunities faced by tenants and their advocates.
Learning Objectives:
- Understand the historical context of tenant rights and rent control in Canada, and how regulations have weakened over time.
- Recognize the shift from local, “mom and pop” landlords to corporate landlords and real estate investment trusts (REITs).
- Analyze how global capital impacts housing affordability and the market’s power dynamics.
- Differentiate between research about tenants and research for tenants, and why this distinction matters.
- Reflect on the constant and persistent challenges facing tenant organizers and the importance of direct resource allocation.
- Identify effective strategies for building power among grassroots tenant organizations.
Key Takeaways:
- Tenant protections in Canada have been historically limited and weakened, despite the worsening affordability crisis.
- The influx of global capital and the rise of large corporate landlords have fundamentally changed the rental landscape, intensifying power imbalances.
- Effective advocacy for tenants requires not just studying their challenges, but supporting organizing efforts and shifting resources into tenant movements.
- Grassroots tenant organizers face persistent threats, including rent increases, eviction, and predatory landlord practices—often with few resources.
- Building lasting power for tenant movements requires civil society and academic sectors to re-channel time, funding, and research toward direct support and organizing.
- Regulatory interventions to control capital and prioritize tenant protections are essential for meaningful change.
Chapters:
00:00 – Introduction: Hosts, guest, and episode overview
02:00 – The history of tenant rights and rent control in Canada
05:00 – The emergence of corporate landlords and the power shift in housing
08:00 – Global capital’s influence on the rental market
11:00 – Distinguishing research about tenants from research for tenants
14:00 – Persistent challenges and the realities of grassroots tenant organizing
17:00 – The need for resource redirection and building power in tenant organizing
20:00 – Action items, resources, and closing remarks
New Housing Alternatives is made possible with the support of the
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Explore our Vision & Objectives and Research Clusters & Projects, and subscribe to our blog at the link below:
https://newhousingalternatives.ca/blog/
What is New Housing Alternatives?
What if the solutions to Canada’s housing crisis are already out there, just hidden in plain sight? New Housing Alternatives Podcast digs deeper to uncover what really works in solving the affordability issue.
Despite dominant narratives claiming our housing crisis can be solved by simply building more market-rate supply, nearly half of Canadian households can’t afford average rents today. The crisis is deeper than a numbers game; it’s about who we’re building for, who gets left out, and what kind of communities we want to live in.
Join hosts Ren Thomas and Cherise Burda as they explore real solutions to this once-in-a-generation housing crisis and cut through the noise on Canada’s housing affordability crisis to spotlight real solutions that already exist, and the people making them happen.
New Housing Alternatives is made possible with the support of a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) Partnership Grant, a partnership that is co-directed by Alan Walks and Susannah Bunce and based at the University of Toronto.
In this series, we talk to the people doing the work: nonprofit and co-operative developers, community organizers, and researchers reimagining housing not as a commodity, but as a human right. These are the underdogs creating affordable homes against the odds, proving it’s possible to build housing for people, not profit.
You’ll hear from:
-Ground-breaking developers creating alternative models of co-ownership and co-ops
-Policy experts who challenge the supply-only narrative
-Economists and data experts unpack how affordability vanishes, and how to bring it back
-Community leaders who are preserving existing homes and building new ones in ways that centre dignity and access
Whether you're a policymaker, housing advocate, or simply someone trying to make rent, this podcast brings you stories and insights that show a different future is not only possible, it’s already being built.