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“Once they started doing the repairs to the homes, they also looked at what their long-term plans were and one of them was to redevelop Heron Gate Block Seven,” Valiquet said.

Under the Tenant Protection Act, a landlord looking to make major renovations within a lease must provide 120 days’ notice to tenants plus compensation equivalent to three months’ rent. Timbercreek is going beyond those provisions, giving its tenants five months’ notice plus an additional $1,500 per unit for relocation costs.

All but eight tenants have accepted the offer of the moving allowance, which Timbercreek says will expire Dec. 1. Finnamore, her husband and two children who live with them will move to a new home in the Centrepointe neighbourhood.

Jean Cloutier, city councillor for the Alta Vista ward, says he has been working with both sides to make sure residents understand the process as the moving date approaches.

“I agree with ACORN that having to move out at the end of February is very disruptive,” Cloutier said. “I have encouraged Timbercreek to be flexible in the moving date of Feb. 29. That being said, they are completely in compliance with the law.”

That is no solace for Magda Ibrahim, who lives in one of the units with her husband and six children. Ibrahim and six other Heron Gate residents are in government-subsidized housing, with only Ibrahim left to be accommodated in subsidized housing elsewhere, said Cloutier.

Ibrahim said the eviction has been extremely stressful, and she doesn’t want to uproot her children, who have already committed to credits and programs in their neighbourhood and at their schools. Timbercreek offered her family another townhouse within Heron Gate, but she said its front stairs would be unsafe for her youngest daughter, who has co-ordination problems. Now she fears she won’t get the relocation allowance.

“I’m losing this money because I can’t find a place that I’m able to like,” Ibrahim said. “Maybe I’m not going to be able to leave by February. I’m not going to be in the winter outside with my kids just to evacuate this place.”

Protest

Activist group ACORN planned a rally at noon Thursday at Heron Gate in the hope of persuading the landlord to delay the Feb. 29 move-out deadline for Heron Gate Block Seven tenants to the spring.