Council's Goals Background Challenges Accomplishments

Priority to Ensure Housing is Affordable

Background on this priority

Homelessness remains the most visible manifestation of Toronto’s affordable housing crisis.^* The dependence on other levels of government to even make a dent in this seemingly unsolvable problem makes it difficult for municipalities to make headway.

More than 250,000 tenant households pay more than 30% of their income on rent and twenty percent of households pay more than 50%. The social housing waiting list now stands at 71,000 households. Toronto rents rose by 31% between 1997 and 2002.  Although vacancy rates have improved across all rent ranges, most of the vacancies are in the higher end of the rental housing market.

A February 2005 report to City Council put the city’s position best - “the test of a compassionate and inclusive city is its success in meeting the needs of its most vulnerable residents. Among the most vulnerable of Toronto’s residents are those who live on its streets and in other public spaces. In many ways Toronto’s success as a city can be measured by its ability to meet the fundamental right of its residents to live in safety and security.”

City Council took these words to heart and adopted a sweeping strategy to assist homeless persons to find permanent housing through the From Streets to Homes initiative.  The City’s actions will be in four key areas: homeless outreach services, access to public space, affordable housing, and collaboration with other governments. The strategy would see funding to provide additional outreach activities and support new affordable housing initiatives aimed at assisting homeless persons move from the street into homes. The focus of the “From Streets to Homes” strategy is to double the existing annual production of affordable housing in Toronto and to commit to half of these homes to be truly affordable to low-income families and individuals - an achievable target within the existing federal, provincial and municipal funding framework.

The Assessment and Referral Centre, the only program of its kind in Toronto, facilitates and supports the work of street outreach workers. The Centre provides an accessible place where staff can encourage people to come inside anytime of the evening or night and rest, receive food and be supported. The Centre served 2,348 different people (45 per cent of whom came directly from the street or Nathan Phillips Square) between December 16, 2004 and November 30, 2005.

Streets to Homes staff have worked with 300 different individuals who have stayed at Nathan Phillips Square at one time or another. There has been a significant decrease in the average number of individuals staying on the Square nightly since City outreach workers began working on the Square in September 2004.