When Tracey MacKinnon moved into McIvor Court in Thunder Bay, Ont., last spring, she was given a few house rules by one of the tenants in the apartment building.

"I was told, 'Don't go out after nine, don't come in after nine. Never take the stairwells, always take the elevator by yourself,' " she recalled. "Well, that's what I can't do. Tell me what I can do, other than live in fear and live in my little box."

McIvor Court, located on Lincoln Street on the city's south side, is owned and operate…