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Speaking at the Fred Victor Mission in Toronto's Moss Park neighbourhood this morning, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Ted McMeekin announced a Provincial framework allowing municipalities to implement inclusionary zoning legislation. Alongside a series of reforms to Ontario's Long-Term Affordable Housing Strategy—totalling a $178 million investment over three years—the zoning framework would allow municipalities to mandate the inclusion of affordable units as part of new development.
In Toronto, where some 19,000 condominium units came online last year, the legislation could spur significant progress in creating affordable housing supply as part of mixed-income communities. With the Toronto Community Housing Corporation (TCHC) facing chronic underfunding and the affordable housing waitlist now swelling to nearly 100,000 units, the new legislation has been hailed as a crucial tool in bridging the gap between supply and demand.
In the coming months, the Liberal government will advance the Bill C-73 framework for inclusionary zoning policies in Parliament. If passed, the new legislation will give Ontario's municipalities to ability to legally require new housing proposals to feature a given percentage of affordable housing units in order to be approved. Leading up to the reading of the bill, the Province will consult with "municipalities, developers, and other interested parties," to further develop the framework ahead of a Parliamentary reading.
In addition to the inclusionary zoning framework, the Province is updating the Long-Term Affordable Housing Strategy (launched in 2010) with $178 million in new funding. Much of the investment will go toward a $100 million Supportive Housing Policy Framework. Aimed at improving access of "up to 4,000 families and individuals" for series such as counselling and life skills coaching, the framework is also set to "support the construction of up to 1,500 new supportive housing units over the long term," according to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing.
A new framework for a portable housing benefit is designed to provide greater flexibility for residents to choose where they want to live, with a more specifically targeted pilot project in the works to support survivors of domestic violence. In addition, $45 million in new funding (over three years) for the Community Homelessness Prevention Initiative has been announced, with the development of an Indigenous Housing Strategy now underway "in partnership with Indigenous communities."
Toronto Mayor John Tory praised the new initiatives, commenting that more is needed to combat "a very real and growing divide between those who can afford to live here and those who cannot." Tory added that the City also needs to "catch up on a target set years ago to develop 1,000 affordable units per year," referring to the the City's unfulfilled 2009 promise to build 10,000 new affordable housing units over the next decade. Unfortunately, the Housing Opportunities Toronto - Affordable Housing Action Plan 2010-2020 (HOT) has only seen 2,800 affordable units completed by the end of 2015, lagging behind the goal of 10,000 homes by 2020.
Speaking from a private sector perspective, The Daniels Corporation President Mitch Cohen called inclusionary zoning "the only way to ensure that affordable housing will be built across this city." Currently heading up the mixed-income revitalization of Regent Park, Cohen argued that other incentives can only go so far in delivering affordable housing supply. "Affordable housing will not be built by accident, by happenstance, or simply by virtue of good intentions."
As the plans continue to take shape, we will keep you updated on the Affordable Housing Strategy and inclusionary zoning legislation. For the City, the news is welcome. Following the campaigning of many City Councillors—perhaps most prominently Mike Layton—to introduce inclusionary zoning, the progress at Queen's Park could now spell out transformative changes in how affordable housing is delivered. Want to share your thoughts on inclusionary zoning and the updated Affordable Housing Strategy? Feel free to leave a comment in the space below this page.
