Currently, more than 100 families in Heron Gate, a neighbourhood in the southern end of the Canadian capital, Ottawa, are being forced from their homes due to a mass demolition of nearly 150 town homes. The Heron Gate neighbourhood is one of Ottawa’s most diverse and affordable communities, home to a very large number of residents with Somali and Arab backgrounds. Residents of Heron Gate were notified in late May that they were to find somewhere else to live before the given deadline of September 30^th. This mass eviction has been described as arguably “the largest forced displacement in Canada in recent history,” according to Al Jazeera. The eviction is headed by real estate behemoth, Timbercreek Communities – the company which operates in 27 cities across Canada – who claims that the homes which they plan to demolish are no longer viable.

During an interview with CBC, U.N. Special Rapporteur, Leilani Farha, discussed the impending eviction of the residents of Heron Gate and its possible violation of international human rights law, stating, “… Every alternative to eviction has to be explored, and I am quite certain that [it] has not been done.” She went on to note that she believes officials are not doing enough to prevent situations like that of Heron Gate.

In Ottawa, it is not an easy task to find housing for anyone – and it is even more so for those seeking rent-geared-to-income housing. Currently, there are approximately 10 500 families waiting for subsidized housing in the city, according to Shelley Van Buskirk, director of housing, community, and social services in the City of Ottawa. According to CBC, on average, a family on the wait list for rent-geared-to-income housing must wait four years for a subsidized unit – not to mention those with larger families of eight to ten persons, like many families in Heron Gate, who need a larger unit. According to Van Buskirk, families in Heron Gate who are already receiving rental subsidies will have priority access status, and argued, “[Their] staff is actively working to secure additional private market units that are suitable to replace those being lost as a result of [the] demolition.”

This mass eviction of the Heron Gate community is currently being treated as a ‘litmus test’ for Canada’s promise to treat housing as a human right, according to Al Jazeera. Although Timbercreek has not broken any provincial laws, under the protection of the Residential Tenancies Act which decrees that, “A landlord can issue eviction notices for the purpose of demolishing a property or conducting extensive renovations,” according to Al Jazeera. The company may be dancing on a thin line, on the verge of crossing into the territory of a human rights violation.

The tenants of Heron Gate are largely made up of immigrants and low-income households, many of which consist of very large families. According to a data collection conducted by the Heron Gate Tenant Coalition, “89 percent of the 600 residents facing eviction are people of colour, the group found, while 44 and 24 percent are of Somali or Arab background respectively,” reported Al Jazeera.

The demolition of this neighbourhood is not merely what it is at face-value – it is also the demolition of a close-knit community that relies on each other for day to day activities. A woman who grew up near Heron Gate, Egal, said, “A lot of them are dependent upon the community via translation work, for moral support, for babysitting while they go out to find jobs or go to English class.” The loss of these ties can be debilitating in the long run, and it may be the case that not enough is being done.

A spokesperson for Mayor Jim Watson said that his main focus has been on “[encouraging] Timbercreek to increase compensation to affected households, and to provide families with more time to look for a new home.” Watson has since received word from the company that their first and foremost concern is, indeed, to help the families of Heron Gate during this the difficult transition. However, many others, like Leilani Farha, believe that there are plenty of alternatives to eviction – for example, relocation until the renovations are complete before extending the option for current residents to move back to Heron Gate. Farha also mentioned the difficulty of ensuring that low-income housing stays available, since many companies have realized that there isn’t money in it for them.

Farha argues that a way of ensuring that low-income families are not priced out of neighbourhoods is for cities to implement inclusionary zoning, much like Ontario had done in April. However, even with the zoning and Timbercreek’s promise of going “beyond the requirements of law in providing relocation assistance” to the displaced residents, this is still a grave problem that have residents still struggling to find housing that is both large enough for their families and are within their budgets.

This disheartening conduct shown by Timbercreek and other companies like it are bringing forth a conversation about the actions of private actors. Councillor Jean Cloutier mentioned during an interview with CBC, that he has been assisting the residents in any way that he can, such as putting them in touch with resources that can help them find new homes, but when it comes to actually put a halt to the evictions, his “hands are tied.” Cloutier stated, “Timbercreek is doing this under the Residential Tenancy Act. It is a provincial process. If I had the power to stop this, I would. If I had control over this process I would exercise it, but it is a provincial process.” This leads many to wonder: who are the people that can stop this? Until something is done, or until this act is proven to be an international human rights violation, the residents of Heron Gate are living in constant worry. With the deadline of September 30^th approaching rapidly, the Ottawa community and the world, watch to see what will happen next and whether Timbercreek will change its plan going forward.