Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Thesis Format

Monograph

Degree

Master of Arts

Program

Sociology

Supervisor

Dr. Scott Schaffer

Abstract

The significant increase in evictions has become one of the foremost manifestations of the housing crisis in gentrifying cities. However, the lack of collected data at both the provincial and federal levels has made it difficult to assess the distribution and conceptual nuances of this phenomenon in urban cities like Toronto. The current study explores the newer ways in which eviction is used in gentrifying cities and illustrates how any renter, not just the “urban poor,” can be precariously placed. For this purpose, eviction data drawn from the Social Justice Tribunals Ontario was used to explore how evictions were spaced throughout Toronto.

The GTA was selected as the primary space for investigating evictions based on its status as one of Canada’s leading gentrifying cities. The results showed that even as rental prices continue to soar and overall evictions have decreased, other forms of eviction are rising, indicating that there are alternative ways in which eviction is now being used. Moreover, the distribution pattern of eviction changed such that those beyond low-income brackets are now also being precariously placed. The results indicate how neoliberal ideas of gentrification have fueled alternative ways to evict individuals, potentially affecting a broader range of people than in the past.The GTA was selected as the primary space for investigating evictions based on its status as one of Canada’s leading modernizing cities. The results showed that even as rental prices continue to soar and overall evictions have decreased, other forms of eviction are rising, indicating that there are alternative ways in which eviction is now being used. Moreover, the distribution pattern of eviction changed such that those beyond low-income brackets are now also being precariously placed. The results indicate how neoliberal ideas of modernization have fueled alternative ways to evict individuals, potentially affecting a broader range of people than in the past.

Summary for Lay Audience

On May 1, 2019, the Globe and Mail published an article announcing the use of a ‘little understood loophole in Ontario tenancy laws, but one so potent that it can put tenants out on the street with little recourse’ (Dingman 2019). This headline is one of numerous articles focused on what has been described as the ‘renovictions’ facing Toronto, and Canada more broadly. Policymakers, housing advocates, researchers, and public housing organizations have argued that the recent increase of evictions against individuals due to renovations (i.e. renovictions) constitutes part of a housing crisis in the United States and Canada (Madden and Marcuse 2016). The causes and consequences underlying this increase in evictions are complex and unclear.

The main concern of this more recent focus on evictions is that the typically accepted reason for eviction – nonpayment – must now be re-examined completely. A rapidly developing city now demands that we must accept considerable rates of eviction in the name of gentrification – a process in which lower and working class areas are transformed for middle-class use. This often entails an influx of investments and concomitant services, such as restaurants and cafes, into neighbourhoods where those resources were previously absent. Such ‘positive’ effects of gentrification, however, belies its more negative effects in displacing low-income residents due to higher rent and increased cost of goods (Desmond 2012). Even though gentrification is normally associated with the displacement of low-income residents, little attention has been paid to renters being evicted beyond the urban poor. It is thus important to explore eviction and situate it in a Canadian context beyond the focus of the eviction literature on individuals in the urban poor and in an American context. Moreover, what might these increasing evictions and flexible rent regulations mean for other income brackets in Toronto?The GTA was selected as the primary space for investigating evictions based on its status as one of Canada’s leading gentrifying cities. The results showed that even as rental prices continue to soar and overall evictions have decreased, other forms of eviction are rising, indicating that there are alternative ways in which eviction is now being used. Moreover, the distribution pattern of eviction changed such that those beyond low-income brackets are now also being precariously placed. The results indicate how neoliberal ideas of gentrification have fueled alternative ways to evict individuals, potentially affecting a broader range of people than in the past.Toronto was selected as the primary space for investigating evictions based on its status as one of Canada’s leading modernizing cities. The results showed that even as rental prices continue to soar and overall evictions have decreased, other forms of eviction are rising, indicating that there are alternative ways in which eviction is now being used. Moreover, the distribution pattern of eviction changed such that those beyond low-income brackets are now also in situations where unpredictability is normal. The results indicate how ideas of modernization have fueled alternative ways to evict individuals, potentially affecting a broader range of people than in the past.

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