'I just don’t know where I’m going to go': Wingham, Ont. tenant lives in tent, fights renoviction

Julie Hamilton is living in a tent, mere metres away from her old apartment that’s been “under renovation” since January 2023.

“Now, six months later, nothing has been done except for the doorknobs and locks have been changed, and none of us have new keys to get into our apartments,” she explained.

Hamilton fears she is being “renovicted” after the landlords that bought her building and the neighbouring one at 295 and 301 William St. in Wingham sent eviction notices to all eight tenants last November. Proposed renovations were to last five to six weeks, and tenants could return at the previous rent of $550 to $600 per month, or close to it, once renovations were complete, said Hamilton.

But, things have changed.

“We all have two bedroom apartments. He’s now decided since he can change it to a one bedroom apartment, it no longer is the same unit that we lived in. Therefore, if we want to come back, because of it being a new unit, a new price will prevail and we’ll be looking at $1,600 per month,” said Hamilton.

One apartment that was renovated after the previous tenant left is being charged the new $1,600 per month rate, said Hamilton -- but, it’s not a price any of the old tenants can pay.

Julie Hamilton is living outside her old apartment in Wingham, Ont. as she awaits renovations to her unit that haven’t been completed over the past six months. Hamilton says she can’t afford the proposed new monthly rent that she fears will rise from pre-renovation cost of $550 per month to $1,600 per month. (Scott Miller/CTV News London)

Hamilton said they’re all on fixed incomes, like pensions or disability. With local geared to income housing waitlists at more than five years, and essentially no other rental housing options, Hamilton and many of her fellow tenants will likely be forced to live outside.

“It’s terribly stressful, frustrating. It makes me angry. It’s not right. We are still human beings, just because we have problems, we should still be treated as human beings,” said fellow tenant, Trish Schwehr, who is one of four tenants that were allowed to stay in their apartments during the first phase of renovations.

She said she’s just waiting for her eviction notice, which she expects any day now.

Julie Hamilton and fellow tenant, Trish Schwehr, discuss the rental situation at their apartment complex in Wingham, Ont. on June 26, 2023. (Scott Miller/CTV News London)

Hamilton said she’s in a tent because the motel she was staying at while her unit was “under renovation” since December 2022 was booked for the summer. She said the William Street landlord is now trying to move her tent and port o’ potty off the property for health and safety reasons.

“The big corporations that are coming in and buying up buildings like ours, are all over small town Canada, are not fair. We have no place to go. There is nothing more affordable for us. It’s all been hiked to high rent. It’s unfair. The poor are poor and are getting poorer,” she said.

“I just want people to know that this isn’t right. That you’re killing off more of us people than you really need to. We have a right to live here, too,” added Schwehr, who has called 301 William St. home for the past 14 years.

A sign out front of 301 William St. in Wingham, Ont. put up by tenants who say they are facing a “renoviction” by new landlords. (Scott Miller/CTV News London)

Hamilton — who has been on disability for the past 20 years after suffering an acquired brain injury — said she understands that her outdoor and short-term accommodations may become permanent if she in fact gets renovicted from her apartment.

It’s a place she’s called home, for the past six years.

“I just don’t know where I’m going to go,” she said.

CTV News London reached out to Nick Sarai of VRS Property Management in Caledon, the owners of 295 and 301 William St. in Wingham, on multiple occasions. Sarai did not respond to CTV News London's requests for comment. 

Julie Hamilton is living outside her old apartment in Wingham, Ont. as she awaits renovations to her unit that haven’t been completed over the past six months. Hamilton says she can’t afford the proposed new monthly rent that she fears will rise from pre-renovation cost of $550 per month to $1,600 per month. (Scott Miller/CTV News London)