User:Jameswardlaw/ACORN Canada

ACORN Canada

ACORN Canada is community organization made up of over 30,000 low and moderate income families in Toronto, the Greater Vancouver Regional District, Ottawa and Hamilton.

It is owned and run by it's members, whose dues constitute the core funding of the organization. Members make decisions democratically about local neighborhood campaigns, and elect representatives to their local board and to the national board, where decisions are made about larger campaigns and organizational priorities.

ACORN Canada is registered in Canada as a non-profit and is, because of a decision of it's board of directors, non-partisan.

History
ACORN Canada was founded in 2004 by a group of members in the Weston neighborhood of Toronto. It grew across that city and then spread to British Columbia in 2005, Ottawa in 2006, and Hamilton in 2009.

Though ACORN Canada has always been an independent organization, it has worked with other members of ACORN International since its creation.

Campaigns
ACORN Canada's first campaign, in Weston, focused on forcing a local landlord to do basic repairs to two apartment buildings. The campaign was succesful - the landlord eventually did the necessary repairs while also paying approximately $500,000 in rent rebates to tenants.

Success in Weston inspired neighborhood chapters across Toronto to run campaigns against their landlords demanding basic repairs and cleaning. The success of many of these campaigns led to the development of a city wide campaign to improve standards in Toronto's thousands of high-rise apartment buildings. It is ongoing.

Concurrently with the various local tenant campaigns in Toronto, ACORN members developed a campaign in response to the usurious intrest rates charged by Canadian pay day lenders. Ultimately, this campaign led to the passage of legislation in 9 provinces that regulated that industry and lowered the rates charged.

Beginning in New Westminister, ACORN Canada members have fought for the implementation of municipal living wage by-laws. That city implemented a living wage bylaw on January 1, 2011. Ottawa ACORN members have, since 2010, been lobbying their city council for a similar policy.

In collaboration with communities and organizations across the country, ACORN Canada has campaigned for a national housing strategy.

Since 2009, ACORN Canada along with other members of ACORN International have been running a campaign to reduce the fees paid to send remittances overseas. This campaign has focused on various governments as well MoneyGram and Western Union, the largest providers of remittance services globally.