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City of Toronto Media Relations has issued the following:
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News Release

November 18, 2024

City of Toronto launches new housing projects, promotes housing for all during National Housing Week

Today marks the start of National Housing Week, a time to recognize the vital work done by housing partners to improve access to safe, adequate and affordable housing for everyone. As National Housing Week gets underway, the City of Toronto is leading and supporting several events across Toronto that emphasize the need to create and preserve housing for all.

Toronto is facing ongoing housing and homelessness crises including a lack of deeply affordable and supportive housing for low-income and marginalized residents, and rising rents, which have made it increasingly unaffordable for middle income earners.

The City currently provides accommodations to more than 12,000 people experiencing homelessness, with nearly 93,000 applicants on the waitlist to access social housing. Moreover, the availability of affordable rental accommodation is well below the recommended levels for a healthy housing system. There is an urgent need to deliver housing solutions with long-term impacts.

The City is taking steps to address this need and transform the housing system through innovative policy and bold made-in-Toronto solutions, including:
• Transforming the housing system to increase the supply of affordable rental and purpose-built rental homes, including homes operated by cooperatives, non-profits and Indigenous housing providers
• Working with other orders of government to increase the supply of deeply affordable and supportive homes
• Improving housing stability for renters and preventing evictions
• Protecting the existing supply of affordable housing to remain affordable, safe and in a state of good repair
• Strengthening outreach and supports for people experiencing homelessness
• Investing in shelter infrastructure
• Regulating short-term rentals to protect critical rental stock by maintaining access for tenants to long-term accommodation
• Permitting multi-tenant (rooming) houses across Toronto and improving oversight and compliance with bylaws to preserve affordable housing for renters and support Toronto’s diverse communities with a range of housing opportunities for different incomes and needs
• Ensuring that tenants live in safe, well-maintained buildings through the RentSafeTO: Apartment Building Standards Program
• Improving development review processes and technologies to accelerate the creation of housing, especially affordable housing, and ensure that housing in Toronto is built within complete communities
• Encouraging owners of vacant houses and condos to make these properties available to be lived in, through the Vacant Home Tax program. Revenue collected from the program is invested in affordable housing initiatives that increase or preserve housing supply

National Housing Week events
Throughout the week, the City and its partners will host several events across Toronto, including groundbreakings and housing completion announcements, and expert panel discussions on critical issues facing the sector, including gender-based violence and housing, and the need for sustainable and collaborative housing interventions.

Monday, November 18
Event: Ground-breaking on 52 new affordable and accessible homes in Etobicoke
Time: 2 p.m.
Location: 150 Eighth St.

Today, the City will join representatives from the Government of Canada to break ground on 150 Eighth St. – a project led by the Canadian Helen Keller Centre (CHKC) – to provide 52 affordable and accessible homes for people who are deafblind or living with other physical disabilities. Key attendees include Deputy Mayor Amber Morley (Etobicoke-Lakeshore), James Maloney, Member of Parliament for Etobicoke-Lakeshore, and Jennifer Robbins, Executive Director, CHKC.

Wednesday, November 20
Event: “Charlotte’s Castle” film screening and panel discussion
Time: 5:30 p.m.
Location: Toronto Reference Library, Beeton Hall

Homeless Connect Toronto and Toronto Public Library will host a film screening of “Charlotte’s Castle” - a documentary produced in partnership with TVO and Cave 7 Productions - followed by a panel discussion featuring:
• Nam Kiwanuka, Host, TVO's Agenda in the Summer (moderator)
• David Reycraft, Senior Director - Programs and Services, Eva's Initiatives
• Tim Maxwell, Community Legal Worker – Community Initiatives and Communications, Kensington-Bellwoods Community Legal Clinic
• Flynn Daunt, Community Organizer, Keele Area Tenant Committee

More information is available here: https://form-can.keela.co/hct-x-tpl-documentary-night-2024.

Thursday, November 21
Event: Taking Action on Housing for Survivors of Gender-Based Violence
Time: 2 p.m.
Location: YWCA Auditorium, 87 Elm St.

The City’s Housing Pathways for Women and Gender Diverse People Working Group will host an event on gender-based violence and housing. Mayor Olivia Chow and Councillor Lily Cheng will offer remarks, and Patti Pettigrew, Executive Director of the Thunder Woman Healing Lodge Society, will share a keynote on Indigenous housing. An expert panel with researchers, advocates and members of the Indigenous and non-profit sectors doing critical work to serve and support women, gender diverse people and their dependents, will share their experiences of these intersecting challenges from the frontlines. The panel will include:
• Carla Neto, Executive Director of Women’s Habitat of Etobicoke (moderator)
• Priya Shastri, Director, WomanACT
• Martha Singh Jennings, Director, The 519
• Anna Morgan, Manager, Ernestine’s Women’s Shelter

More information is available here: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/taking-action-on-housing-for-survivors-of-gender-based-violence-tickets-1053386630769?aff=oddtdtcreator.

Friday, November 22
Event: Opening 26 new affordable homes in Toronto’s east end
Time: 11 a.m.
Location: 685 Queen St. E.

The City will celebrate National Housing Day by officially opening 26 new affordable homes operated by Riverdale Co-operative Houses.

More information will be made available prior to the event.

Event: Vacant Home Tax declaration drop-in sessions
Time: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Locations: City Hall, East York Civic Centre, Etobicoke Civic Centre, North York Civic Centre, Scarborough Civic Centre, York Civic Centre

City staff will host drop-in sessions to help homeowners submit their Vacant Home Tax (VHT) declarations. The VHT Program supports the City’s ongoing efforts to increase housing availability by encouraging property owners to rent or sell vacant properties. The requirement to make an annual declaration of occupancy status is a way to identify whether homes are lived in or vacant. Homeowners can also make their VHT declaration online or by calling 311. The deadline to declare 2024 occupancy status is April 30, 2025.

More information is available on the City’s website: www.toronto.ca/VacantHomeTax.

Through the HousingTO 2020-2030 Action Plan (HousingTO Plan), the City aims to deliver 65,000 new rent-controlled homes including 41,000 affordable rental, 6,500 rent-geared-to-income and 17,500 rent-controlled homes. While the City is doing its part to meet the growing needs of Toronto’s housing market, it continues to request additional and significant funding from other orders of government to build more homes, protect existing housing and help people at risk of or experiencing homelessness access housing with adequate supports. More information on the City’s housing targets is available on the HousingTO dashboard: https://www.toronto.ca/city-government/data-research-maps/toronto-housing-data-hub/housingto-action-plan-2020-2030-dashboard/#.

City shelter and outreach workers take a housing first approach, prioritizing work with individuals experiencing homelessness to build housing plans based on their needs and to collect the documents they need to become housing ready. From January 1 to October 31 this year, more than 3,200 people have moved from the shelter system into permanent housing. However, the number of people experiencing homeless continues to rise. The City continues to advocate for ongoing partnerships from other orders of government to help address the housing crisis.

Toronto is home to more than three million people whose diversity and experiences make this great city Canada’s leading economic engine and one of the world’s most diverse and livable cities. As the fourth largest city in North America, Toronto is a global leader in technology, finance, film, music, culture, innovation and climate action, and consistently places at the top of international rankings due to investments championed by its government, residents and businesses. For more information visit www.toronto.ca or follow us on X at www.x.com/cityoftoronto, on Instagram at www.instagram.com/cityofto or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/cityofto.

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Media contact: Media Relations, media@toronto.ca

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