110 Laurier Avenue West
City Hall (Andrew Haydon Hall)
Saturday September 10th, 2011
9am-3pm
Admission is free

About the Conference

The 4th Ottawa Tenants Conference is open to both tenants who live on the private market and those who live in social housing. It will be held in Andrew Haydon Hall at 110 Laurier Avenue West. Admission is free and lunch is provided. Bus tickets and a limited number of daycare subsidies are also available on a first come, first served basis. In addition, each participant will receive a Tenant Kit which contains information about tenants’ rights, resources available when they’re having problems, and information about trends and issues affecting tenants in Ottawa.

Agenda

There will also be a number of workshops throughout the day to provide tenants with a wide range of information on various topics such as:

• terminating a tenancy
• how to build safer communities
• apartment insurance
• maintenance
• health issues

Addressing the Imbalance of Power

Although it is important to give tenants practical information throughout the day, the conference also strives to provide ideas to tenants about ways they can work more effectively for change, either within their own individual buildings, or at the structural level. In Ottawa, landlords are represented by the Eastern Ontario Landlords Organization (large landlords), Ottawa Region Landlords Association, (small landlords) and the Federation of Rental Housing Providers (provincial lobbying group). In contrast, tenants in Ottawa have no formal network to liaise with each other or to identify their common issues. These conferences take the first small steps to address the imbalance by bringing the tenants of Ottawa together to speak with one voice.