Tenants throughout Toronto are currently leading a rent strike against some of the country’s largest corporate landlords in one of the world’s least affordable cities.

The long overdue rent strike involves tenants across Toronto in multiple buildings — 70 Thorncliffe Park, 33 King Street, 77 Spencer Avenue, and 109 Indian Road. Together, they are fighting back against their corporate landlords’ “above-guideline rent increases” (AGIs).

Although Ontario’s rent control typically limits rent increases to 2 to 3 percent per year, AGIs enable landlords to raise rents significantly beyond these regular limits, ostensibly to account for expenses related to repairs and retrofits. In reality, however, they offer an easy way to evade rent controls and bolster landlord profits.