At Toronto Metropolitan University on April 1, tmu students and housing advocates gathered at Tecumseh Auditorium for a tenant rights workshop aimed at cutting through confusion that often leaves renters exposed. The event was hosted by Housing Our University Students Equitably at Toronto Metropolitan University, known as HOUSE TMU, with the Toronto Metropolitan Students’ Union. Speakers and attendees focused on how students can better understand their rights when dealing with landlords.
Why the tmu workshop mattered
HOUSE TMU is a non-profit student housing group and a chapter of HOUSE Canada. Sadaf Shaik, the communication director of HOUSE, said students often pay more than non-student renters for smaller spaces closer to campus, and she warned that many are unaware of their rights as tenants. That lack of knowledge, she said, can leave students vulnerable to exploitative landlords.
Shaik said the goal is to support the cooperative housing movement and give TMU students access to housing that costs less than the average downtown rent. She added that Toronto has lagged behind in that effort, making awareness even more important. The workshop was designed to help students recognize problems early and understand what options they may have when housing conditions become difficult.
Students describe pressure, fear and uncertainty
Several students at the event said the problem is not abstract. Gaelle Chan Tam Chan, a fourth-year fashion design student, said she had “zero knowledge of the [housing] rules and policies in Canada” after moving from Mauritius in 2021. She said financing also shaped her housing search because her parents supported her and she did not have a full-time job.
Shalin Thomas, a third-year medical physics student, said they could not respond to landlord problems because they could not afford to move elsewhere. Thomas described eviction without notice, extortionate rent for very small rooms and overcrowding in a house with more tenants than legally allowed. Joseph Abay, a third-year urban planning student and executive officer with HOUSE TMU, said students often discuss poor living conditions only after they have already found housing, and many do not know they can challenge those conditions.
At the center of the concern is a growing rental burden for students in Toronto. A January report by consumer insights group Studenthaus, titled State of Canadian Student Living 2026, found students in Toronto paid significantly more than the national average of $1, 146 per month. The report put average monthly rent at $1, 640 for TMU students and $1, 689 for University of Toronto students.
Calls for stronger action from city officials
City Hall is also taking a harder line. In a March 9 memo to the City Council’s Executive Committee, Mayor Olivia Chow emphasized cracking down on bad landlords. The 2026 City of Toronto budget funded 73 RentSafeTO officers, double the number from 2023, and the memo said those officers “have the authority to make landlords fix problems. ” Chow wrote in the memo, “I will not tolerate slumlords in the City of Toronto. ”
The broader rental picture remains tight. Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation said Toronto rental units reached an average of $1, 917 in Oct. 2025. That pressure helps explain why workshops like the one held by HOUSE TMU are drawing attention: students are trying to navigate a market where the stakes are high and the information gap can be costly.
What comes next for tmu students
The immediate question is whether more students will move from learning about tenant rights to using them. HOUSE TMU said the purpose of the workshop was to build awareness and push cooperative housing forward, while students who attended described a need for practical tools they can use the next time a landlord issue appears. For tmu, the message from the room was clear: knowing the rules is becoming as important as finding the room itself.
