- Aug 6, 2012
- 28,059
- 24,860
- 2,405
Average rent in Toronto for a 1 BR apt. is over $2400 a month. In 2019 the city said it would build affordable housing, Social spending in Toronto is a fraction of the police budget, so people thought "hey, maybe these guys are starting to get it".
4 Years later, not even one apartment has been constructed as our tent city expands.
When Toronto launched its ambitious new housing strategy in 2019, it aimed to transform valuable city-owned lands into 10,000 affordable homes — but more than four years later, not a single shovel is in the ground.
Housing Now was designed to convert surplus city-owned properties, such as parking lots, into new housing developments, with a minimum one-third of those units affordable or at no more than 80 per cent of market rent.
The first 11 properties, all near transit nodes, were identified in early on. The plan was to build and hand back the projects to city-aligned housing agencies for management within four years through a fast-tracked approval process.
So far, that hasn't happened. Now, some developers blame what they're calling the city's onerous construction approval process — including the Toronto Green Standard (TGS), which adds several levels of new regulation, on top of the provincial building code.
"We're calling it 'Housing Later,' or 'Housing Maybe'," said Richard Lyall, of the Residential Construction Council of Ontario (RESCON). "It's not a surprise, in a sad kind of way."
4 Years later, not even one apartment has been constructed as our tent city expands.
When Toronto launched its ambitious new housing strategy in 2019, it aimed to transform valuable city-owned lands into 10,000 affordable homes — but more than four years later, not a single shovel is in the ground.
Housing Now was designed to convert surplus city-owned properties, such as parking lots, into new housing developments, with a minimum one-third of those units affordable or at no more than 80 per cent of market rent.
The first 11 properties, all near transit nodes, were identified in early on. The plan was to build and hand back the projects to city-aligned housing agencies for management within four years through a fast-tracked approval process.
So far, that hasn't happened. Now, some developers blame what they're calling the city's onerous construction approval process — including the Toronto Green Standard (TGS), which adds several levels of new regulation, on top of the provincial building code.
"We're calling it 'Housing Later,' or 'Housing Maybe'," said Richard Lyall, of the Residential Construction Council of Ontario (RESCON). "It's not a surprise, in a sad kind of way."