WHY OAKWOOD-VAUGHAN?

Oakwood Vaughan is an amazing community which is highly diverse culturally and economically. However, studies by the City, the Toronto Central LHIN, and the TDSB have all indicated that our neighborhood has higher rates of poverty and a relatively large number of tenants. The neighborhood is underserved for its needs around health, childcare, seniors, recreational spaces and more. Rapid gentrification and the LRT construction has dramatically impacted the area, especially the Black residents and the Little Jamaica business centre on Eglinton. There has been a high rate of loss of affordable units and displacement of community members. We aim to ensure that community members can remain and thrive in OV, especially those most vulnerable to displacement.

INFORMATION FOR TENANTS INSIDE THE FOCUS AREA

The TSP's work is for you! We aim to ensure that you are able to access affordable housing without needing to leave our community. If you are facing difficulties with your landlord/ in your apartment or would like to form a tenant association in your building let us know by emailing OakwoodVaughanTenants@gmail.com. We are also working to create an Oakwood Vaughan Tenant Network for folks in buildings with under six apartments (tenant associations become more difficult to form with few tenants) that will support tenants in any issues they are facing. If you would like to get involved with advocating for affordable housing check out our Affordable Housing Working Group. We are also always looking for volunteers and ways to make our work more accessible, For either, please email info.ovco@gmail.com.

INFORMATION FOR TENANTS OUTSIDE THE FOCUS AREA

We hope our work will still benefit tenants outside our focus area, especially those in our surrounding area that are experiencing a lot of displacement pressures. Some of the ways our work might help is by learning from some of our tenant organizing workshops (all uploaded to YouTube). We also have resources on this site on how to start a Tenant Association for your building. We always welcome volunteers/ folks wanting to get involved, which can both be a great way to learn more and help your community. The AHWG while focusing on the TSP study area is advocating for policies like Inclusionary Zoning and Right to Remain which can benefit other neighborhoods.

INFORMATION FOR HOMEOWNERS INSIDE THE FOCUS AREA AND OTHERS

We welcome everyone to volunteer with us and have many homeowners from the neighborhood currently involved in this work. It often serves homeowners' interests: ensuring affordability in the neighborhood can stabilize the area and decrease luxury unit construction which can impact homeowners' when it occurs next to them. The AHWG is currently working on outreach to homeowners to see if folks would be interested in helping with affordable housing through units in their house, laneway housing and garden suites. We want to hear from folks what would make these options more feasible for them. Also, volunteers are always needed to further this work for our community. If you are wondering how you could help or if engaging with TSP is right for you please fill out this survey and we will get back to you as soon as possible.