Terrible Canadian Citizen

Community Spotlight 👉: Property Managers Across Ontario list is now live thanks to your nominations last month.

A story from the past: Openroom started with 5 LTB orders under my name (Weiting Bollu). Each of you were instrumental in getting us to now over 37,000 Court Orders and Tribunal Decisions related to residential tenancy across Canada.

Co-Founder Vishal and I still believe we are a tiny startup. However, being tiny doesn’t mean we don’t have any avenues to appreciate our community who have helped our movement towards transparency in the rental ecosystem.

This time around, we made a list of stellar property managers in Ontario based on nominations from our community members (aka you) so we can showcase it across our platforms.

Small businesses should continue to support small businesses so we can win together. The next time you or someone in your circle needs a property manager, consider browsing this list!

fyi: nominated individuals did not pay to be on this list. Openroom does not get a commission of any sort when someone does a consultation.

👩🏻 Top update from me, Weiting (Co-Founder)

On a scale of 0-10, how well do you understand politics?

6 months ago, I would classify myself as a 0.1/10. I knew very little about the Canadian government. 😰

According to Elections Ontario, Ontario’s Provincial Election voter turn out in 2022 was ~43.5%. Of the 10.7 million registered voters, roughly 4.6 million votes were casted. Lowest ever since 1867.

That basically means 1 of every 2 Canadians were eligible to vote but did not! 😱

I’ve gone out to vote most of the time but I’ve definitely missed election cycles in my lifetime so far.

You got me, I am a terrible Canadian Citizen…🤐 🥴

I’m trying to be better.

Each of these surprised me when I first learned about it.

• When MPPs are elected, they are appointed ministry positions by the Premier.

  • e.g. 🏡 The incumbent MPP of Markham-Stouffville is Paul Calandra and he’s the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing (MMAH). The Residential Tenancies Act (RTA) falls under it.

  • e.g. 👨🏼‍⚖️ The incumbent MPP of Barrie—Springwater—Oro-Medonte is Doug Downey and he’s the Attorney General. The Ministry of the Attorney General oversees Ontario’s 13 Tribunals - including the Landlord Tenant Board (LTB).
    

• 💼 When this Provincial Election was called, all ministries pause operations. Employees (e.g. policy advisors, chiefs of staff, stakeholder relations directors) for these ministries are out of a job for the duration of the 28-day election cycle (or longer if their candidate doesn’t get re-elected). They are out there helping their respective candidates campaign because “their job is on the line”.
  

• 🏬 Each of the Members of Provincial Parliament (MPP) who are going for re-election are no longer “MPP”. They are “Candidate XYZ”. They are not allowed to go back to the constituency office to host meetings. They need to have their own ‘campaign office’.
  

• 🗞 The pamphlets in your mailbox, the canvassers at your door step, and the signage you see on the road are all put there by (for the most part) volunteers. I drove my car around a few days to deliver brochures. I got compensated in Welch’s candy and Ruffles Flamin’ Hot BBQ chips. Haha, I have no complaints!!!

If you want to be more informed, there’s still plenty of time. We’re all looking for pro-affordability housing solutions.

Action 1 👉: Read through OREA’s report card on how each platform addressed issues related to housing. Across 10 issues brought forth by OREA, the four main parties were given 9 days to respond to the survey. NDP, Liberal, and Green party had a response for each of the issues.

Action 2 👉: Join a free virtual webinar on Tuesday, Feb 25 from 6-7PM EST with FRPO President Tony Irwin to learn more about how each of the party’s platforms may impact landlords.

Action 3 👉: Head to Elections.on.ca’s Voting / Candidate Search Tool. Search your postal code, and find the candidates running in your riding. Visit their websites and see what they’ve got to say.

🤝 Our community contributions

Being in the rental housing space means I get to meet other awesome company leaders, and people who really care about being part of the solution to the housing crisis.

Want to contribute an Opinion article to Openroom and get highlighted in a future newsletter? Ping me!

📊 Community Polling - from our partners at Rentals.ca

Openroom conducts research in every newsletter. Results are anonymous.

As Canada’s leading rental marketplace, Rentals.ca is conducting a survey to understand how Ontarians feel about the upcoming Provincial election (Thurs. February 27, 2025) and its potential impact on renters, landlords, and the housing market.

Your input will help Rentals.ca report on public sentiment and advocate for better housing policies. All responses remain confidential. Results are getting compiled Tuesday noon so share your thoughts in the next 48 hours!

Note: I’ll send out the survey results in the next newsletter once it gets released.

Last time, I asked you: Have you been through a tenancy dispute? 

133/170 (78%) said “YES AND YOU HAVE GONE TO THE TRIBUNALS”.

I feel you. I went too. It is a painful experience regardless of whether you are the landlord or tenant side of the dispute.

I know I’ll never forget what that entire dispute journey was like in 2021-2022. I mean, I started an entire company because of it.

Thank you for participating in our research!

What else should I write about in the future? Send me some ideas!

Weiting Bollu
Mom, Rental Housing Provider, Rental Housing Advocate, Educator, and Openroom Co-Founder & CEO

p.s. The best gift you can give us is to share this 15K reader newsletter with a friend.

👉 newsletter.openroom.ca