Residents of a Toronto apartment complex are calling out their landlord for failing to show up at a public meeting convened by Mayor Olivia Chow in an attempt to end a rent strike that has stretched on for four months.

The rent strike has been ongoing since the start of June, when nearly 200 residents at 33 King Street in Toronto's Weston neighbourhood ceased rent payments to their landlord, Dream Unlimited, citing unfair rent increases.

Hundreds of tenants in Toronto community stop paying rent during strike against landlord https://t.co/9QebsRDUtE #Toronto

— blogTO (@blogTO) June 30, 2023

Later that month, residents of the neighbouring 22 John Street rental building operated under the same management joined in on the strike, which now stretches into mid-September.

Tenant rent strike in Toronto community picks up steam as more groups join in https://t.co/KHDV9LaYR9 #Toronto #RealEstate

— blogTO (@blogTO) July 27, 2023

Mayor Chow convened a packed meeting in the basement of the Weston King Neighbourhood Centre on Wednesday evening between Dream Unlimited and the York South-Weston Tenant Union, attended by tenants and their union representatives in a standing-room-only show of support.

Despite an invitation extended to Dream Unlimited to participate in the talks, no representatives of the real estate company showed up at the meeting — leaving residents angered and negotiations at a standstill.

Last night @MayorOliviaChow met with a packed room of tenants on rent strike at 33 King St and 22 John St, after Dream Unlimited refused her invitation to come to the table, opting instead to pursue hundreds of evictions. pic.twitter.com/rwdj1rOwgI

— YSW Tenant Union (@YSWtenants) September 14, 2023

A statement issued on Thursday morning by the York South-Weston Tenants Union calls out Dream for failing to attend, and "opting instead to continue filing evictions against tenants on strike rather than participate in mediation."

"We want to thank Mayor Chow for stepping in and trying to bring Dream Unlimited to the table, something we've been trying to do for more than four months," says Sharlene Henry, a tenant at 33 King St and Co-chair of the York South Weston Tenant Union.

"It's an outright shame that Dream would rather kick us out of our homes than sit down and negotiate with us, not even at the Mayor's request," said Henry, adding, "But we are not going to let this stop us, and we're stronger than ever."

It is clear that Dream would rather pursue mass evictions, than simply negotiate with us, even at the mayor's request.

But we are not going anywhere. If Dream wants to play hard, tenants on rent strike will become their nightmare.

Support the fight at https://t.co/x3nGkt9yNw pic.twitter.com/kn0arqXLJj

— YSW Tenant Union (@YSWtenants) September 14, 2023

Residents have been outspoken about rent increases in the complex, claiming that some tenants in the rent-controlled 33 King building have seen their monthly rents increase by 22 per cent in just the last five years.

The tenants union states that rent-controlled buildings are capped at seven per cent year-over-year.

Rent increases are even higher at the adjacent 22 John Street building, where tenants allege that Dream has increased from between 10 and 17 per cent year-over-year. Though 22 John is not rent-controlled like its older neighbour, the tenant union notes that it was constructed on public land with $10M of public funding.