About 200 evicted seniors scramble for new apartments in Mississauga, Ontario

About 200 seniors are searching for affordable apartments after getting eviction notices at a Mississauga residence.

Chartwell Heritage Glen Retirement Residence in Meadowvale served about 188 eviction notices to the residents last week.

While there were rumours about the sale of the building, residents were upset to learn they have until the end of July to move out. Many are struggling now to find affordable apartments.

With a housing crisis right now, affordable homes are in short supply.

“There’s no housing for them,” Karen Santaguida, a daughter of one of the residents, told insauga.com.

The building at 6515 Glen Erin Dr. was established in 1982, according to the Peel Community Services Directory. It started as an apartment building but has been a senior’s residence for many years.

Chartwell has entered into a purchase and sale agreement with real estate company Minto, Mary Perrone Lisi, Chartwell senior director, communications and public relations told insauga.com in an emailed statement.

Minto plans to renovate the existing buildings and redevelop them as traditional residential rental units for all age groups, Lisi said.

The building’s age was behind the decision to sell.

“The aging infrastructure of the buildings has made it unsustainable to continue operations as a retirement residence,” Lisi said.

Lisi said they have put together a team of experts to help residents with the transition.

“The team is working directly with residents to find the appropriate accommodations, whether it be another Chartwell residence or elsewhere,” she added.

While Chartwell is offering residents compensation, those impacted are finding it difficult to get another senior’s apartment at a similar rent in the same community.

Santaguida said her 92-year-old mother has lived in the building for 20 years and doesn’t want to move.

“I’m disgusted that this could even happen,” Santaguida said.

Her mother is so stressed by the eviction notice that she is having trouble sleeping and eating.

Santaguida is finding it difficult to find something in the same price range for her mother.

“There are a lot of people that are in my mom’s boat,” said Santaguida.

Pam Leermakers has a similar story about her mother-in-law. Chartwell offered places in their homes but at anywhere from $4,000 to $6,000 a month, they are about three times more expensive than what they are paying now.

The units at Heritage Glen have kitchens and offer seniors a more independent lifestyle. Santaguida said her mother is not ready for a long-term care home. Similar Region of Peel housing has a three- to seven-year wait, she said.

Residents recently found out there was a City of Mississauga Committee of Adjustment meeting on Feb. 15, in which plans to convert the senior’s residence into an apartment building for all ages were in a report. The approval at the meeting was for minor adjustments to the buildings and property.

Ward 9 Councillor Martin Reid said he is studying the documents but the building zoning doesn’t require change — it can be either an apartment or senior’s home.

It’s privately owned so Chartwell has the right to sell it.

Right now Reid said he is focused on the residents and has a meeting with Chartwell.

“My first priority is the residents and making sure that we have no seniors that are homeless,” he said.

He hopes the residents who have spent a lifetime in Meadowvale can stay there close to family and the community they know.

“This is heartbreaking,” he said.

In the last few days, he has had heard from many residents and family members. One 95-year-old couple told him they are paying $1,400 a month and the cheapest comparable apartment they could find was $3,999 plus $1,000 for a meal plan.

Leermakers said she is organizing a growing group of about 20 people to find solutions for the residents. Right now, the consensus from the group seems to be that they want to pay the same rate of rent. They want Chartwell or some level of government to cover that cost.

She has started a Facebook group called SOS (Save Our Seniors), and is contacting politicians to help.

Leermakers hopes someone will listen.

“It’s not like these people can go get a part-time job to subsidize their bills — they only have so much money a month,” she said. “They’ve worked all their lives in Canada…and this is the end of their life. And now they’re worrying about where they have to live.”