Ottawa residents facing the prospect of losing their home say they will fight to stay and are warning that demovictions threaten not only affordable housing but also the communities tenants have built over years. One of those residents in Linda Thom, an Olympic Gold medallist from the 1984 Los Angeles Games, and a beloved member of the Old Ottawa South community. “I’m going to fight as long as I can,” Thom says. Thom, a resident of 551 Riverdale Avenue, won gold in the 25-metre pistol event. This was the first summer Olympic gold won by a Canadian woman in nearly 60 years. The townhomes near Bank Street and Riverdale Avenue are also near a park named after Thom, which features a monument in her honour. “The city named the park after me and it’s people are so gracious and so wonderful, and it’s just been a delight to have my gardens out facing the river there,” she says. In August, tenants of 551 Riverdale Avenue received an email from their landlords, JSS Riverdale Holdings Inc Manager. CTV News has obtained a copy of the email that says, “we expect to file an application for Site Plan Control with the City of Ottawa for a proposed redevelopment of the property. This plan would result in the demolition of the current property, and a new one to take its place.” The email says, “demolition and construction would not begin until the late spring or early summer of 2027.” Thom says the prospect of losing her home reflects a broader problem for Ottawa tenants: the risk of being displaced from housing they can afford, with few comparable options elsewhere. “That automatically formally classes us as second-class citizens because we don’t have a choice,” Thom says. Demoviction generally refers to tenants being forced out of a rental property so it can be demolished and redeveloped. Unlike a renoviction, which involves eviction for renovations or repairs, a demoviction can involve the permanent loss of the building and the homes inside it. City council approved a Rental Renovation Licence By-law in July 2026. The rules are scheduled to take effect Jan. 1, 2027. But that by-law would provide very little support for these residents. “The thing that is going to be most difficult if we have to leave, is the loss of community, because there’s a fair amount of us are of retirement age or have retired or would like to retire, and we feel safe,” Catherine O’Hagan says. “Everybody is going to lose everything that we built up for 30 years. It’s devastating and there’s no need for it,” O’Hagan explains. Kevin Alexander also lives in one of the townhomes. “‘I’m autistic, and I have an autistic son and an autistic spouse. We’ve lived around in different places. Never found anything as safe and welcoming and supportive as this community in this place,” Alexander says. Alexander also says there are many marginalized people in the buildings, and he worries there is no consideration for them. Ottawa city councillor Shawn Menard says the redevelopment raises serious questions about the loss of affordable housing in an increasingly expensive part of the city. “The biggest concern is the loss of affordable homes and the people that live inside these homes,” Menard said, noting that some residents have lived in the community for decades. Menard says he has met with tenants, the owners and city staff. The property owner, JSS Riverdale Holdings Inc., says the project is still in the early stages of the municipal planning and approvals process, and there is no accurate construction timeline yet. The company says it has informed residents about the proposal and has met with them both collectively and individually. It says those discussions will continue as plans for relocation, support and potential returns are developed. “No official notice to vacate has been given to the tenants,” the company said, adding that it does not intend to ask residents to leave until it is confident the project is ready to proceed. But the question of affordability remains unresolved. JSS Riverdale Holdings says it is actively pursuing options to offer a percentage of the new units below market rate. It has not yet specified how many units could be offered at reduced rents or what those rents would be. Menard acknowledges that older homes sometimes need to be replaced, and that increasing housing supply is important. But he says tenants need stronger protections when redevelopment forces them out. “We have to fill those gaps that exist now provincially, because people are going to be out of a home,” Menard says. He wants to see options that would allow residents to return to the new building at the same rent or receive moving costs or other compensation that recognizes the years they have spent in their homes. Thom says she is ready to fight to stay in her home, her teammates this time, her neighbours.
