An Alberta advocacy group is calling on the province to stop allowing adults-only apartments, condemning the practice as discriminatory.

"We don't think it's appropriate, from a human rights perspective, for people to prevent certain demographic groups from being their neighbours," said Chelsey Jersak, a founding member of the Child-Friendly Housing Coalition of Alberta.

Her coalition hosted an open house in Edmonton on Saturday to raise awareness about the issue.

A recent decision at a hearing in Edmonton Court of Queen's Bench reinvigorated Jersak's group. The judge granted an application in January to include age as a discriminating factor in the province's human rights act.

The province has one year to review certain exemptions before the change becomes law.

Age is already a discriminating factor in the rest of Canada.

'An enormous amount of hardship'

Michael Janz, an Edmonton public school board trustee, said his housing hinges on the province's decision.

Janz and his partner had their first son on Valentine's Day, but were told the baby boy couldn't live in their condo. After some debate with the property owner, Janz said he negotiated eight months to find a new home for his family.

"It's caused an enormous amount of hardship for what really doesn't seem like a valid reason," he said.

"We're not bad tenants, we're not noisy — we're very good neighbours to have. I question the rationale behind these provisions. I don't see who they benefit, or the benefit of restricting a building and who can live there."

Michael Janz and his partner are facing eviction because their newly-born son is not allowed to live in their condo building of nine years. (Zoe Todd/CBC)

Janz said his partner bought the condo nine years ago in southwest Edmonton's Hodgson neighbourhood. Their home has sound-muffling concrete walls, a spacious yard and nearby amenities such as a school and a community recreation centre.

The two have struggled to find — and afford — a similar home since being asked to leave.

"This isn't the 1950s," Janz said. "Every young family can't just afford to go out and buy a new home, and the supply of new homes available are oftentimes further and further away from our city's core and other amenities."

This isn't the 1950s — every young family can't just afford to go out and buy a new home. - Michael Janz, new parent

Janz said his family had planned to stay in their condo another five years before moving to a larger home.

"We're put in a really awkward position where we have to choose between our home and our family," he said. "Let the babies stay."

'I need somewhere to go'

Janz shared his story at Saturday's open house, hosted at a new downtown residential building called The Hendrix. The highrise offers some of the only child-friendly apartments in its neighbourhood.

"It's pretty common to hear somebody come in that's telling us, 'I'm expecting my first child and it's unexpected so I need somewhere to go,' " said Michelle Calloway, a third-party property manager.

"Which puts them in a unique dilemma, right? To have to move while pregnant."

The urgent demand for child-friendly apartments throughout Alberta means developers can tap into that need by designing buildings with families in mind, Calloway said.

Jersak, however, said her advocacy group is more focused on the apartments and condos that already exist in Alberta.

"It's always appropriate to design, build and market buildings for a particular user group," she said. "However, we don't think it's appropriate to prevent people from outside that target group from also living in the building if that's what they feel is most important for them."

'I value diversity in my neighbourhood,' said Chelsey Jersak, a founding member of the Child-Friendly Housing Coalition of Alberta. (Zoe Todd/CBC)

Jersak plans to work with local government officials to pressure the province into abolishing adults-only rules. Her advocacy group is not targeting assisted-living homes for seniors and disabled people, she added.

David Shepherd, the MLA for Edmonton-Centre, voiced his support for the coalition on Saturday. He attended the event to hear from concerned Albertans like Jersak and Janz.

"I recognize the value of having families in our community," Shepherd said. "They add to the vibrancy, they make for safer streets, they help support our local business and I'd like to see as few barriers as possible to having families living in our downtown core."

The provincial government has until January 2018 to announce how age will be included as a discriminating factor in Alberta's human rights act.