The Engaging Tenants in Apartment Retrofits Resource Guide will set the stage for ACORN to maximize the community benefits gained by apartment retrofits, and to create policies that will enable those retrofits to be brought to scale.  

ACORN is a national community union of low-to-moderate income people that has won significant policy victories over its 18-year history in Canada. From rent control victories in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, to the development of cutting-edge anti-tenant displacement policies in Burnaby, ACORN has developed a near unparalleled track record of tangible policy changes that benefit its constituency of low-to-moderate income tenants. New to Alberta, ACORN has established groups of tenants in Calgary's Eastside and the Beltline. 

The Engaging Tenants in Apartment Retrofits Resource Guide, and the process to develop it, will allow Calgary ACORN to meld its burgeoning campaigns for affordable and livable housing with campaigns for energy efficiency apartment retrofits.  In doing so we will connect the dots between popular affordable and livable rental housing and GHG reduction campaigning. 

Engaging tenants is at the core of this project.  Through direct dialogue and door to door surveying of tenants, ACORN will quickly engage and develop an understanding of Calgary's tenant community and the issues they face. ACORN's national reach will enable us to learn from lessons already taught in cities like Toronto and Montreal where ACORN is working with other Low Carbon Cities Canada (LC3) partners on developing strategies to scale up and engage tenants into apartment building projects. 

The Engaging Tenants in Apartment Retrofits Resource Guide will be released in the Spring of 2023 and will include a made-in-Alberta tenant engagement model, researched proposals for policy reforms that would enable more apartment retrofits, and a strategic organization plan to enable Alberta ACORN to assist in large-scale apartment retrofits.