As the COVID-19 pandemic is accelerating around the world, many international students have to abandon their studies, return home, or be trapped in foreign countries in a dire financial situation and precarious physical security. However, even in a global pandemic, there are people who want to make money off vulnerable people, in this case, the international students studying in the city of Toronto.

CampusOne is a student residence in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Most of the students living here are from the local universities: University of Toronto, OCAD, George Brown College ... As COVID-19 has been ravaging Toronto since the start of March 2020, many international students have to flee Toronto, abandon their rooms at CampusOne and go home.

Yet, CampusOne still enforces the students to pay the rent in full for the upcoming months (April, May, June, etc). Despite the fact that it has shut off all of its amenities such as the kitchen (which some students store their stockpile food for the pandemic), the gym, the study rooms ... that the students paid for, due to the reason of social distancing. It provides NO reimbursement for its shutting down the amenities to the remaining students, NOR CampusOne allows the students to terminate the lease of the academic year 2019-2020 AND 2020-2021 since the students who had signed the lease in Feb 2020, before the pandemic came to Toronto.

In short, every student who has stayed at CampusOne since August 2019, whether he/she is present at the residence or not, must pay full monthly rent, without excuse despite an on-going global pandemic threatening their health, and sometimes their lives (e.g. the immuno-compromised)

An email exchange with Mr. Simon Zarzour - the General Manager at CampusOne, and Ms. Melinda Farmer - regional Vice President, is given with answers as these, and we quote:

"Your lease agreement is a binding contract and cannot be terminated due to illness or the impact of COVID-19." - Mr. Zarzour

"At this time we are not releasing students from their legal or financial obligations to CampusOne." - Ms. Farmer

In short, all students at CampusOne have to pay all the full monthly rent, which ranges from $1700 to $2500, despite the fact that they are fleeing Canada for their own safety, not because of their own free will. If the students do not pay, CampusOne, and its parent companies, Canadian Campus Communities (CCC) and American Campus Communities (ACC) will sue the student for their violation of the contract to the Ontario Landlord and Tenant Board. If sued, the international students might get their study permit revoked and nullified because they do not pay for the rent of academic year 2020-2021, despite the fact they could not study in Canada nor stay at CampusOne in 2020/2021 due to the uncertainty of the pandemic.

Even as the Canadian Government approves economic stimulus package for the economy, CampusOne and its parent companies (CCC and ACC) want to squeeze more money out of international students in the time of the pandemic.

This unethical business practice might not just happen at CampusOne, it happens at every property of the CCC and ACC. And the students (especially international students) have to suffer.

So students, whether you are international or not, we ask you to sign the petition to cancel the lease effectively NOW, reimbursement of the money you have paid to CampusOne or any of the residence of the CCC or the ACC.

If you live in CampusOne, send an email to Simon Zarzour to reclaim your money and rights at

szarzour@studenthousing.com

or phone: 416-871-3915

If you are in Canada, and live in one of the residences of the CCC (Parkside, Centennial, Campus1MTL ), send an email to your general manager or send an email to the Regional Vice President, Ms. Farmer at:

mfarmer@americancampus.com

or phone: 512-743-3329

If you are in the USA and live in one of the ACC's residences, go to

https://www.americancampus.com/contact-us

Call them, email them, contact them.

Sign the Petition. Cancel your lease. Reclaim your money back. Fight for your rights. Do not let corporate greed enslave you nor let them own you, especially in this time of a global pandemic.