A month before an initial hearing on an appeal to the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT) by the owners of a Peterborough townhouse complex of a city council decision to deny their request to convert the rental units into condominiums, tenants are waiting to find out if their rents are going to increase and by how much.

That’s because Burlington-based Simple Investor Real Estate Group (SIREG) Management Inc., which owns the property at 700 Parkhill Road West, has advised residents of the complex’s 128 three-bedroom rental units that the company intends to apply to the Landlord and Tenant Board for an above-guidance rental increase (AGI), stating the increase is necessary as a result of capital expenditures and building improvements made at the property since SIREG purchased it four years ago.

SIREG’s intention to apply for an AGI follows Peterborough city council’s recent decision to deny the company’s request to convert the rental units into condominiums.

Condo conversion plan and tenant opposition

SIREG first announced its plan to apply to the City of Peterborough for a condominium conversion — known as a draft plan of condominium — by delivering notices to the tenants of 700 Parkhill in May 2025.

The term “condominium” in real estate refers to the manner of ownership of a series of units. In condominiums, each unit is independently owned whereas a rental apartment block must be owned entirely by one entity.

In November 2025, residents were informed that a public meeting under the Planning Act for SIREG’s draft plan of condominium would take place during city council’s general committee meeting on December 1.

Upon receiving these notices, long-time 700 Parkhill residents Jennifer Lacey began researching the implications of a condominium conversion and connecting with representatives at the city and SIREG.

Lacey would go on to give a delegation at the December 1 public meeting to oppose the conversion application, citing concerns about affordability, maintenance, and tenant security.

City council rejects condo conversion application

At the public meeting, council considered a report from city staff that recommended council deny SIREG’s request. In part, the report indicated that staff were not in support of the proposal “on the basis that it does not provide an opportunity for ‘affordable ownership’ and would reduce the rental segment for 3-bedroom units.”

“Approval of this application is expected to have an undesirable effect on the City’s rental housing market and affordable housing supply and does not meet the Official Plan’s intent to preserve and encourage rental and affordable housing,” the report concluded.

After hearing delegations from both SIREG and tenants and after debating the item, council voted to reject the application and subsequently ratified that decision at a city council meeting on December 8. Both votes were unanimous.

“I appreciate everything the city did,” Lacey told kawarthaNOW. “The staff report was very balanced and fair.”

City staff report cites affordability and housing supply concerns

One of the reasons city council decided to deny SIREG’s request was that the conversion would not move the city towards meeting its housing target of constructing 4,700 new dwellings by 2031, which was part of the city’s 2023 municipal housing pledge to the Ontario government.

Another reason was that SIREG’s original price of $409,900 for a condo unit was above the city’s minimum affordable threshold of $311,000 for a three-bedroom unit. At the December 8 council meeting, SIREG lawyer Jasdeep Dhillon stated the price would be reduced to $311,000.

In its application, SIREG indicated current tenants would have the first right of refusal on purchasing their units, and would be protected from eviction if someone else purchased their unit. However, tenants such as Lacey have said that, even if they wanted to purchase their unit, they would not be eligible for a mortgage.

“I don’t think it would be a good investment to purchase my unit,” Lacey added.

Although 40 per cent of the units at 700 Parkhill are designated as affordable housing and current tenants are protected from rental increases as a result of condominium conversions, future tenants of condo units would not have the same protection. As indicated in the staff report, this would lead to the overall reduction of affordable units in the area as tenancy changes hands.

City staff also noted the potential long-term consequences of removing this number of affordable rental units from the wider Peterborough rental market, as the 128 three-bedroom rental units at 700 Parkhill represent 17 per cent of all such units in the City of Peterborough.

For Lacey, it is this type of long-term impact that is especially concerning.

“It’s great that I’m protected, but for future tenants they don’t have that protection,” she said.

OLT appeal and potential rent increases

During the December 8 council meeting, Dhillon indicated there was “a good possibility” SIREG would appeal to OLT if council ratified its earlier decision to deny the condo conversion application.

In January, SIREG filed its appeal with OLT, and an initial hearing has been set for May 7 to identify the involved parties, specific issues being raised, and procedural matters.

Lacey told kawarthaNOW that she has been working to stay involved with the appeal and is passionate about advocating for her fellow tenants to ensure their voices are heard.

“If there’s going to be discussion and decisions surrounding my housing, I want to be at the table,” she said. “It’s difficult seeing two positions of power being able to make decisions for people who don’t have a say.”

As part of the condominium ownership structure, unit owners are required to pay fees to support communal facilities and building maintenance. In its condo conversion application to the city, SIREG indicated that the condominium fee reserve would pay for ongoing capital repairs, but in lieu of this approval rent increases would be used to address these costs.

Tenants at 700 Parkhill are skeptical, alleging that SIREG has a history of absentee landlordism and neglecting both routine and essential maintenance requests,

“I’ve had a maintenance request submitted since November that hasn’t been addressed,” Lacey said. “My neighbours have said that they don’t have a functioning bathtub or that their toilet hasn’t been working for three months.”

In Ontario, landlords can legally increase rent above an annual guideline — 2.1 per cent in 2026 — only by applying to the Landlord and Tenant Board for an AGI. One reason a landlord can apply for an AGI is if they have incurred eligible capital expenses as a result of extraordinary or significant renovations, repairs, or replacements. The maximum increase allowed is three per cent over the annual guideline in a single year, and nine per cent over three years.

At this point, SIREG has not filed the official AGI application with the LTB, and it remains unclear whether rental increases would proceed should the company’s OLT appeal be successful and the company proceeds with condo conversion.

When discussing the impact of the ongoing OLT appeal and potential rent increases, Lacey said tenants are “being used as part of a game, being used as a commodity.”

Marking the last day of International Women’s Month on Tuesday (March 31), Maryam Monsef’s organization ONWARD hosted “A Conversation About The Status of Women In Our Community”, an event held in honour of the late Ann Farquharson, at Market Hall Performing Arts Centre in downtown Peterborough.

The event, presented in partnership with the Peterborough and Kawarthas Chamber of Commerce and sponsored in part by kawarthaNOW, featured 16 female speakers engaging in conversation on important issues related to women’s health, resilience, and leadership.

Ann Farquharson, who passed in late 2025, was a lifelong civic leader and advocate in Peterborough. Her work included a career as a lawyer, time as a city councillor, and a board and committee member for numerous not-for-profit organizations.

Monsef, who was Peterborough-Kawartha MP and a federal cabinet minister from 2015 to 2021 (including Minister for the Status of Women) prior to founding ONWARD, explained that her organization and the Chamber had chosen to host the event in Farquharson’s honour to recognize her impact on women in the local community, and then shared some of her own memories with Farquharson.

“I miss her rants,” Monsef said fondly.

Known for being an outspoken activist, Farquharson consistently engaged with elected officials at all levels of government and advocated for progress and change.

“She didn’t just complain — she did something about it,” Monsef added.

Noting it was her commitment to action that made Farquharson such a prominent and influential figure in Peterborough, Monsef encouraged attendees to take their lead from Farquharson.

In addition to being the final day of International Women’s Month, March 31 also marked the international Day of Trans Visibility.

Joy Lachica, Town Ward councillor for the City of Peterborough, gave an impassioned speech about how “tyranny is too close” and the importance of standing as allies with trans individuals.

Senator Marilou McPhedran, member of the Senate of Canada and a lawyer and human rights advocate, spoke about her experience working on the 1981 drafting of Section 28 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which establishes women as being equal to men in the eyes of the law.

She explained that, if she had the knowledge then that she has now, she would have ensured protections for trans people as well.

Almost all of the women on stage spoke about the concept of resilience.

For Darlene Weales, senior manager of commercial solutions at Kawartha Financial Services (formerly Kawartha Credit Union), being a woman in a male-dominated field has forced her to learn to how to keep going in the face of double-standards and systemic issues.

Wendy Morgan, co-founder of Red Oaks Pathways, continued the conversation about resilience and how individual women are being made to carry the burden of system failures.

“We are holding up the system with our bare hands,” said Morgan.

For Morgan, the systems need to better support women who are facing burnout, discrimination, and isolation. Rather than celebrating people surviving in broken systems, the focus should be on creating systems that work for everyone.

“We call her ‘girl boss’ and then send her back in,” Morgan quipped.

The illusion of resiliency is also faced by other marginalized groups such as Indigenous and racialized peoples.

Kylie Fox-Peltier, principal consultant and co-founder of Indigenize, expressed the need to rebuild broken systems to actively support and work for Indigenous peoples. She said she no longer will accept being “expected to be grateful just for being in the room.”

All of these women demonstrated that, when systemic barriers remain in place, there is no opportunity for true inclusion and access.

One area of systemic barriers that was discussed involved the experiences of women accessing healthcare.

Dr. Sonia Anand, associate vice president of global health and professor of medicine and epidemiology at McMaster University, spoke about her work on health inequities created and exacerbated by social determinants.

“There are systemic barriers to thriving in Canada,” Anand said, highlighting socio-economic status, gender, immigration status, and access to a primary healthcare provider.

As demonstrated in a November 2025 report of the Standing Committee of Health in the House of Commons, entitled Women’s Health in Canada: Closing the Gender Gap, there is less funding and research dedicated to health issues primarily affecting women and to care and treatment.

Tiffany Arcari, community builder and host of The Tiffany Show, spoke about her journey accessing healthcare for fibroids, a common non-cancerous tumour of the uterus. Arcari said there needs to be more education and openness about women’s health.

“The things that are too much and too personal are the things that other people are carrying too,” said Arcari, who has shared her healthcare journey on her talk show and has empowered other women to advocate for themselves.

Throughout the event, there was much conversation about the importance of collaboration among women in creating change.

Monsef shared that ONWARD is committed to hosting more events that promote conversation and create space for women to gather together.

Tanya Fusco, president of Soroptimist International Peterborough, emphasized the importance of collaboration among women in making change, describing the origins of groups like Soroptimist that formed during a time when women were excluded from community organizations such as business networks.

“It’s our time to build now,” said Fusco.

A number of the speakers expressed how collaboration through mentorship and leadership from women such as Farquharson has supported them in their achievements. Attendees were reminded that they all have the capacity to be mentors to other women.

Lynn Zimmer, a founder of Canada’s first crisis shelter for women fleeing domestic violence, the former long-time executive director of YWCA Peterborough Haliburton, and a member of the Order of Canada for her work and advocacy to prevent violence against women, expressed her desire to see more women involved in local politics and being involved in change-making positions.

Zimmer even told aspiring candidates for public office that she would like to help some wise women to get elected or re-elected.

Considering Anand’s research demonstrating the impact of personal finance on health and quality of life, it is unsurprising that the number of speakers discussed financial independence and empowerment for women.

Weales shared the history of women’s financial rights in Canada, such as laws existing until 1964 that prevented women from opening a solely owned bank account. She explained how credit unions’ history of leadership in women’s banking remains important to her work at Kawartha Financial Services.

Retired teacher Cathy Ferreri described the importance of financial education and empowerment for women. Her personal experience as a single mother and educator inspired her to write a book to teach people how to manage their money and support their family.

Evident from the March 31 event is the desire for women to gather in conversation in a place where they feel their voices are being heard. However, as noted by a number of speakers, women often feel they do not have the capacity or ability to participate in action.

Ashley Safar, executive director of the Peterborough Community Health Centre, said she almost didn’t attend the event due to work commitments and pressure to always be doing more.

“It’s not because this (event) doesn’t matter, but because everything else does too,” she said.

Overall, the event sparked passionate conversation among not only the speakers, but also audience members.

During an open mic session, a number of attendees shared their own stories of misogyny in the workplace, in healthcare, and in the wider community.

Other speakers at the event included Peterborough and Kawarthas Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Brenda Whitehead, Peterborough Downtown Business Improvement Area executive director Nour Mazloum, Peterborough MP Emma Harrison, London-West MP and Deputy House Leader Arielle Kayabaga, Curve Lake First Nation singer-songwriter and artist Missy Knott, and Mehrangiz Monsef, registered immigration consultant at Monsef Immigration.

The original version of this story has been updated to clarify a comment attributed to Lynn Zimmer.