Racialized Evictions and AI in the Rental Housing System

In this episode of New Housing Alternatives, hosts Cherise Burda and Ren Thomas speak with Dr. Nemoy Lewis about how race, transit investment, and financialized landlords intersect to drive evictions in Toronto’s rental housing market, and how emerging uses of AI risk making things worse.Drawing on years of research into evictions, multifamily acquisitions, and transit-oriented development, Dr. Lewis shows that Toronto’s eviction crisis is not random. Instead, eviction filings are highly concentrated in Black renter–majority neighborhoods, particularly in the northwest quadrant of the city and along new transit corridors.Key TakeawaysEvictions in Toronto are not random: they form a predictable, racialized geography of harm, with Black renter–majority neighborhoods facing eviction rates up to five to seven times the city average.Even when controlling for income, Black renters, including middle‑income households, experience disproportionately high eviction filings, showing eviction is a structural, not individual, problem.The northwest quadrant of Toronto and communities like North Albion (Rexdale), Chalkfarm, Jane and Finch, and Little Jamaica are among the hardest hit, especially around new transit investments.Financialized and corporate landlords drive most evictions: about 80–85% of filings occur in the primary rental market, and eviction is often used as a business strategy to “reposition” properties and attract higher‑income tenants.Large-scale transit projects trigger waves of multifamily acquisitions in historically disinvested, racialized neighborhoods, followed by spikes in eviction filings.AI tools are increasingly used in rent setting and tenant screening, potentially enabling collusion, removing human discretion, and embedding racial bias into housing decisions.Strengthening competition law, recognizing housing as a social good, and adopting vacancy control (tying rent control to the unit, not the tenancy) are key policy directions to disincentivize eviction-driven profit strategies and better protect renters.Chapters:00:00 – Intro & Episode Overview00:37 – Introducing Dr. Nimoy Lewis02:06 – Research Goals & Eviction Patterns05:18 – Beyond Downtown: Northwest Toronto Focus08:44 – Who Is Being Evicted and Why14:12 – Transit Investment & Property Repositioning19:40 – AI, Rent Setting, and Tenant Screening23:26 – Policy Responses & Vacancy Control26:26 – Where to Learn More About the Research27:53 – Outro & CreditsLearn more about Nemoy Lewis Here.New Housing Alternatives is made possible with the support of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Explore our Vision & Objectives and Research Clusters & Projects, and subscribe to our blog at the link below:https://newhousingalternatives.ca/blog/