Several tenants in a building in Winnipeg’s West Broadway neighbourhood say their privacy, rights and safety were violated during months of non-permitted construction this summer, prompting some to leave.
But the new owner argues the aging complex needs upgrades and defended management’s notices to tenants.
Mira Koop, who moved out in mid-October, is among several tenants who dispute that.
“There are legal ways to do this,” Koop said on her last day in her apartment. “They chose the most vile way to get rid of us.”
The bartender and university student says the problems began when a new owner took over 640 and 644 Westminster Ave. — adjoined buildings at the corner of Langside Street — in July.
Days after meeting the new property management company, Chanden Homes Ltd., she came home from a trip to find her fridge and stove had been replaced without notice and her internet wasn’t working.
“I went, ‘Oh my God, this is not my home,'” she said in an interview.
The chaos of non-stop renovations that followed in August and September ruined her quality of life, said Koop.
Some of the major changes included construction on back porch fire exits, leaving dangerous holes in the floor without safety signage, and a loss of space in her suite as contractors got ready to install an HVAC system, she alleged.
“[There was] noise coming from below, because they’re demoing down below, noise coming from above … then noise coming from inside my unit too on top of that, while they drill and remove my entire [hallway] ceiling,” Koop said.
She also says on several occasions, contractors came into her suite without 24 hours written notice, which the Residential Tenancies Branch requires.
“It was so, so unsettling and upsetting,” Koop said.
Other tenants agreed, including one who told CBC five men entered their unit one morning while they were sleeping to measure appliances and cabinetry.
Two other tenants, Madlen Bowen and Liam Simpson, say they signed a new lease with the previous owner just before the building was sold in July.
They said the new landlord proposed having tenants begin paying for heat and water, as well as raising the rent by nearly 16 per cent starting in January — an increase well above the 2025 provincial guideline of 1.7 per cent.
Landlords can apply for an above-guideline rent increase if the standard guideline won’t cover operating and capital costs for the unit. According to emails to tenants shared with CBC, the new owner has applied for an above-guideline increase.
“We can’t call our home a home when they’re actively trying to flip it on our heads,” Bowen said. “It’s miserable.”
The tenants said their complaints to Chanden Homes often went unanswered or were dismissed, while notices and services largely didn’t improve.
According to company and land title documents, 640 and 644 Westminster Ave. were sold on July 29.
Tenants say contractors and representatives from Chanden Homes began work a day before that — but Justin Beaulieu, the director of 640 644 Westminster Avenue Ltd., denies any work began before the company took possession.
He says the work at the building is needed.
“We understand that it’s a difficult time for tenants during renovations, but with the building being over 100 years old, we do have to upgrade items,” Beaulieu said in an email.
City records show no construction permits have been approved for the property since 2000.
The contractor, Bosk Construction, told CBC it believed it did not need permits for the type of work it was doing, which owner Adam Tougas described as painting and prep work for construction that would later require permits.
That included installing panels in the fire exit to prevent water from coming in and replacing rotten and hazardous floorboards, Tougas said.
He said they applied for the permits they planned to get anyway after a city inspector came by in late September and told them to stop work.
Tougas maintained his workers would not enter an apartment without confirmation that notice had been given to tenants, and said his company started issuing its own notices when tenants appeared concerned or confused.
“I’m just a little bit perplexed and want to make sure that going forward, this doesn’t happen again,” Tougas said in a phone interview when asked about the concerns from residents.
In separate emails, both Beaulieu and Chanden Homes said management gave notices to tenants according to Residential Tenancies Branch rules.
Neither answered followup questions.
CBC reviewed copies of multiple emails from Chanden Homes to tenants where notices were sent less than a day from the proposed entry time.
“We’ve had multiple requests of entry that either people don’t show up, or they don’t give us the right notice and show up,” said tenant Simpson.
A provincial spokesperson said while they can’t comment on specific cases, if a landlord is reported to have entered a unit without proper notice, a Residential Tenancies Branch officer will contact the landlord to explain the legal requirements.
The branch could also issue administrative penalties and a cautionary letter, the spokesperson said in an email to CBC.
Tenants said they began reaching out to the Residential Tenancies Branch in mid-August, but said the answers that often arrived days later were largely unhelpful.
In an email to a tenant in early September, the branch said it “cannot have a hearing to stop the landlord from demolitions and extensive renovations.”
An email to a different tenant in mid-October said the branch will not open a compliance file right now, because the landlord has applied for an above-guideline rent increase. The branch said the tenant they could, however, file a claim for financial loss against the landlord due to loss of services and space.
In another October email to a tenant, the branch said it does not have jurisdiction over property standards but could look into ordering the landlord to do repairs, and that it could investigate them for not giving enough notice of a rent increase.
As for Koop, she decided to move out after getting a notice on her door in August.
She’d spend a night away to catch up on sleep and escape the noise, she said, but the notice read, “I believe that you have abandoned or moved out of this rental unit.”
It also said if she didn’t contact management by Aug. 21, they “may enter the unit; make a list of what’s left in the unit; throw away any food … or pack and store remaining items.”
Koop said she called Chanden Homes, which told her the notice was a mistake.
Though she’s moving, she hopes speaking out holds the companies accountable and keeps the other tenants in their homes.
“No one’s leaving because of the money,” said Koop.
“We’re leaving because of poor communication. We’re leaving because they aren’t showing us respect.”
Tenants allege construction without permits, unlawful entry drove some to move out
