As the City of Toronto develops Building Emissions Performance Standards (BEPS) to reduce emissions from existing buildings, the Low-Income Energy Network (LIEN) is working to ensure that low-income and vulnerable tenants benefit from these efforts without facing increased costs, displacement or other adverse impacts.
In August 2026, with support from The Atmospheric Fund (TAF), LIEN convened a virtual focus group with organizations working directly with low-income and vulnerable tenants, including community legal clinics, tenant organizations, housing advocates, social service agencies, and climate and energy organizations. Through a series of interactive whiteboard exercises, participants identified what an equitable BEPS policy must include.
The message was clear: participants support building decarbonization, but believe BEPS will only be equitable and successful if tenant protections are built in from the outset. Key priorities include:
- Preventing tenants from bearing retrofit costs through rent increases, above-guideline increases (AGIs) or higher utility bills
- Protecting tenants from renovictions, displacement and construction-related disruption
- Ensuring retrofits improve health, safety and access to cooling
- Providing meaningful tenant engagement and accessible, multilingual communication
- Resourcing the community organizations that support tenants throughout the retrofit process
The report presents the focus group’s findings, the roles participants identified for governments, landlords, utilities and community organizations, and ten actionable recommendations to help guide the equitable implementation of Toronto’s BEPS policy.
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