Priority to Ensure Housing is Affordable

City Council’s Accomplishments

Dateline June 2004 – Siting Affordable Housing - City Council supported a proposal for the construction of housing, some of it special low-mortgage housing, on a seven-hectare site in east Toronto. A mixture of market-value and affordable housing will occupy about a third of the City-owned property, which City Council agreed to sell for the development. The rest of the site is expected to be used for a police station and a park.

Dateline July 2004 – Rating Toronto’s Rental Properties - City Council supported plans for a public disclosure system that will inform people about violations of property standards at multi-residential buildings. The new system, similar to the "Dinesafe" food inspection system for restaurants, will include information on the City's Web site, by telephone and through notices posted at premises' entrances. The information concerning apartment buildings will help people make informed choices about rental accommodations and will also act as an incentive for compliance with Toronto's property standards.
More

Dateline September 2004 – Reducing Homelessness - City Council approved funding to agencies that provide services and projects that prevent or alleviate homelessness. A total of 113 community projects received approval under the City's 2004 Homeless Initiatives Fund (about two-thirds of it provincial funding). Money in the federally-funded Supporting Communities Partnership Initiative will help to support 35 City-approved capital improvement projects, three new programs and two transitional housing projects this year.

Streets to Homes

City staff, working with private and non-profit housing providers, have housed 533 people from the street since January 2005 through the Streets to Homes programs – more than a person per day.

115 people housed by non-profit street outreach providers

178 people housed by City street outreach workers

240 people housed by two non-profit community agencies

Thirty-nine per cent of the individuals were sleeping on a sidewalk prior to being housed23 per cent were sleeping on Nathan Phillips Square

17 per cent were living in a self-built encampment

9 per cent were sleeping in tents

8 per cent were sleeping on park benches

2 per cent were sleeping on steam grates and,

2 per cent were sleeping in abandoned buildings.

Dateline/December 2004 - Winter Plans – City Council’s approved plans to address homelessness during the winter include opening a temporary 80-bed shelter and providing increased outreach efforts to connect street people with the resources such as mental health counseling, health care referrals and transitional accommodation - intended to help them obtain long-term housing. By November 2005 the Edward St. Shelter had served 954 different people – 47 per cent of whom came directly from the street or Nathan Philips Square.

Dateline February 2005 - From Street into Homes - City Council approved a strategy to provide street outreach services to help homeless people find and keep permanent housing. The strategy includes additional outreach workers creating 1,000 new units of affordable housing annually and establishing a protocol for Nathan Phillips Square. City Council also asks the provincial and federal governments to live up to their responsibilities in addressing Toronto's housing crisis.
More

Dateline July 2005 – Coordinating Affordable Housing - City Council established a new committee to streamline the review and approvals process for new affordable housing developments. Planning issues will still be considered by the relevant community council as well as by the Planning and Transportation Committee and a new Affordable Housing Office will be responsible for research, advocacy and co-ordination.

Canada-Ontario Affordable Housing Program - Wave 1 Allocations (Fall 2005) - City of Toronto
New Affordable Housing Units (Rental, Supportive & Remote)		Housing Allowances/Rent Supplements
Units	Funding ($M)	Units	Funding ($M)
1,125	78.75	1,800	37.80

Dateline August 2005 – Funding for Affordable Housing - Under the new Canada-Ontario Affordable Housing Program, the Governments of Canada and Ontario have allocated funding to municipalities to produce new units of affordable housing, and provide rent subsidies for lower-income households. The City of Toronto will see an allocation of $116 million which will help provide much needed safe and affordable homes for several thousand families and individuals in our city.
More

Dateline February 2006 – Regent Park Demolition – The first step towards Regent Park’s revitalization will see the demolition of the block bounded by Parliament, Oak, Sackville and Dundas Streets. The buildings, Canada’s largest social housing property, will be completely demolished this winter, with construction slated to begin by mid-summer 2006 and completed by 2008.
More