536 Birchmount Rd. is located in Birchmount Park in Scarborough. It’s an older low-rise building of a type common throughout Scarborough, with 29 units (a mix of one and two bedrooms).

Buildings like this one are the heart of affordability in Scarborough, offering stable, long-term, affordable living for generations. But they’re also some of the least desirable for commercial landlords, because the profit compared to a new, non-rent-controlled building, is so low. Every year, Toronto loses 10,000 units of affordable housing as rents rise. That means that even if we built 10,000 new affordable units, we’d just be breaking even. Preserving our existing affordable rental stock is essential if we’re going to lower the price of housing for Canada’s most vulnerable people.

When 536 Birchmount went on the market, residents were at risk of being renovicted or having their rents raised by the new owners. That’s where Raising the Roof stepped in, with the help of the City of Toronto’s Multi-Unit Residential Acquisition Program. In December 2024, we acquired 536 Birchmount and will be preserving its affordability for the tenants for decades to come. As units turn over, new tenants will come from housing waiting lists maintained by social service agencies we partner with.