Outreach
Check back often for more outreach materials- posters, organizing kits etc. Spread far and wide in safe ways – mask and glove up!.
Sample letters
If you email your landlord BCC us (not CC, as any evidence even remotely suggestive of voluntary participation may hurt you down the line) at [email protected] that way we know roughly how many folks are participating in the strike moving forward. The VTU will also be keeping an eye on the number of folks who can’t pay rent, and so would likely appreciate a CC or BCC at [email protected]. This may inform their strategy moving forward, and how confident they feel in pushing for universal cancellation of rent and forgiveness of unpaid rent during the moratorium.
Example Letter for Landlord sent by tenants in Parkdale, Toronto (link to image file)
Toolkit including sample letters for landlords and City Council
*The VTU’s letter is intended to start a negotiation with your landlord as opposed to communicating a refusal to pay rent.
Posters
Tenant Resources
Cancel Rent: Website– An anonymous count of strike pledges in each city, this can help you gauge solidarity and therefore relative safety of participating in a rent strike.
BC Rent Crisis: Website– Huge centralized resource made by the Vancouver Tenant Union which helps you organize your building, connect with organizers, and answers common questions.
Contact toolkit: This toolkit also allows you to instantly email city councilors to demand a rent moratorium and also offers sample emails for your landlord.
No Rent April COVID Mutual Aid: Facebook group organizing buildings around withholding rent, and otherwise connecting folks who can’t/won’t pay rent with resources & one another, started by a VTU member.
Cancel Rent BC: Write to your local representatives through their petition . Cancel Rent BC was created to petition the government to end the housing crisis and homelessness. By signing their petition you can instantly contact your MLA, MP and others to petition them to cancel rent this April.
Tenant Resource and Advisory Centre: It is generally recommended to go here for specific questions and concerns about your current rental situation, they are (relatively) well funded and have paid staff instead of just volunteers. website
Rentstrike.ca: website round-up of rent strikes around the world (under construction)