Tenants, advocates, and community members gathered at 214–230 Sherbourne Street in Moss Park to demand urgent action on Toronto’s housing crisis. The rally marked the beginning of the People’s March for Housing Justice, which continued through the downtown core to the Financial District.

Fred Alvarado  – Local Journalism Initiative

The Sherbourne lot, left vacant for 17 years, was the rally’s central symbol—a site many view as representing systemic failure and corporate neglect. Now owned by KingSett Capital and slated for a 46-storey luxury condo, the site has become a flashpoint in the fight over who gets to live in Toronto. Advocates demanded that the lot be redeveloped as social or rent-geared-to-income housing instead.

Speakers criticized major developers and corporate landlords for driving up rents, neglecting building conditions, and displacing low-income tenants. They pointed to the growing number of “demovictions,”where affordable housing is replaced with upscale developments.

Rally organizers highlighted how poverty, homelessness, and housing insecurity are especially concentrated in neighbourhoods like Moss Park and Regent Park—areas where Indigenous and racialized communities are most affected.

Events like this demonstrate the power of civic engagement. By gathering publicly and demanding change, residents are pushing for policies that treat housing as a human right—not a business opportunity—and defend the future of their communities.