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Olivia Chow has promised to create a dedicated task force within RentSafeTO to go after bad landlords and buildings in disrepair, if re-elected as mayor.
Olivia Chow has promised to create a dedicated task force within RentSafeTO to go after bad landlords and buildings in disrepair, if re-elected as mayor.
The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results. Olivia Chow, alongside residents of 500 Dawes Road, promised to create a bad landlord task force, if re-elected as mayor.
Olivia Chow has promised to create a dedicated task force within RentSafeTO to go after bad landlords and buildings in disrepair, if re-elected as mayor. Mold, mouse droppings and water leaks are just some of the issues tenants faced "for years" at 500 Dawes, said Chow.
"I promised them that nobody should have to live like this," she said at a news conference Friday morning. "This fight was never about one single building; it was about changing a system that was failing Torontonians. " Chow said her plan will enlist enforcement officers and lawyers to conduct proactive inspections, issue court orders for repairs and to ramp up remedial action where needed, which will allow the city to make repairs and bill the landlord.
"They will work across city divisions to use every enforcement tool we have and they will stand up for renters against slum lords," she said, adding she already has a list of buildings to work on next. The team will cost $2.15 million annually to hire and employ the task force, with work funded by RentSafeTO and fines paid by bad landlords, said Chow's campaign team in a news release.
Ryan Endoh, a tenant at 500 Dawes, said residents at the 14-storey building came together and reached out to their local city councillor, "who was not interested in working with us.
" The apartment is located in Ward 19 , which is mayoral candidate Brad Bradford's constituency. Endoh said a lot of work was accomplished by former councillor Janet Davis, which made the city's more recent action much easier. Mayor Olivia Chow seen speaking outside 500 Dawes Rd. with residents over the poor condition of the apartment building on July 22, 2025. "Bradford thought that fines totaling $20,000 to $30,000 was enough.
We have now achieved over a million dollars in fines. That's phenomenal," he said. The city made many repairs at 500 Dawes Road that were paid by the landlord, said Chow. She said the city also took the landlord to court.
The court fined the landlord's company close to $1 million for over 40 violations and sentenced the owner to 15 days in jail, she said. In a news release, Bradford said Chow was taking credit for work at 500 Dawes that was already taking place well in advance of her campaign against bad landlords, which she launched earlier this year.
He said he pushed city staff to use remedial action in 2020, prompting them to clean the property and add $30,000 to the landlord's tax bill. Bradford said staff confirmed to him that work would continue as needed.
"That's city staff and the courts doing their jobs, and it deserves credit. It isn't a mayor's record. It's a mayor's backdrop," he said. Insects , mice and a lack of heat are among the issues plaguing 500 Dawes Road in Toronto, Steven Bull reports.
Bradford's news release said his record at the building goes back to 2019 and he worked with the housing secretariat, city staff, non-profit operators and other experts over the years to try to acquire the building and help tenants at the site. CBC News reached out to Toronto mayoral candidate Chris Alexander, who has been polling behind Chow and Bradford, for comment. There areArrthy Thayaparan is a writer at CBC Toronto with interests in health, climate, education and community stories.
You can contact her at arrthy.thayaparan@cbc.ca. A Toronto apartment building faces 84 city complaints. But the owner's appealing for more time to fix it
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