Toronto to receive nearly $500 million in major housing deal with feds

Toronto is about to get a major influx of cash to help address the city’s housing affordability crisis.

Mayor Olivia Chow was joined by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the federal housing minister on Thursday morning to announce the federal government will be giving the city $471 million as part of the Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF).

The new deal will help fast-track nearly 12,000 new housing units over the next three years and 50,000 homes over the next decade, according to officials.

“(Toronto) is a great city, and if we want to keep it great we have to make homes more affordable,” said Trudeau. “”We’re facing a shortage of housing right now. The prices of homes have become way too high.”

“That’s why we created the Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF), to build more homes of all types, faster.”

The $4-billion HAF asks for housing plans from local governments, and once approved, provides funding upfront to ensure the timely building of new homes, as well as additional funds upon delivering results. The fund is designed to speed up the building to new housing to ease soaring prices and protect rental stock.

Some of the changes Ottawa has pushed for include denser zoning and faster issuance of permits. The federal government says the deal with Toronto will allow for more apartment buildings, encourage below-market rentals, speed up development, and help build affordable units closer to public transit.

The agreement will see the city cut red tape by easing zoning approvals and expanding affordable rental programs. The deal also requires the city to take action to address renovictions.

“We’ve made it very difficult to build homes in this country through municipal red tape,” said Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Sean Fraser, speaking to Breakfast Television on Thursday morning. “Toronto’s a good example, the biggest city in the country with the slowest permitting process.”

“We don’t have to accept that that’s the way it has to be.”

Thursday’s announcement of a new deal comes after Chow expressed disappointment when the Trudeau government released its fall economic statement last month, saying it failed to meet the ambition of Toronto’s housing plan with the housing funding initiatives outlined in the budget not kicking in until 2025.

She argued the city needs more urgency to help tackle an ongoing crisis, citing the hundreds of refugees sleeping on the city’s streets. Chow has previously said the HAF could help remedy the issue.

On Monday, officials announced that Mississauga would be getting $113 million as part of the fund to build over 3,000 housing units over three years. Ottawa has reached deals with 16 municipalities across the country.

Trudeau is also scheduled meet with Chow in her City Hall office on Thursday afternoon.

Chow and Trudeau will be joined by the federal housing minister for the announcement at 11:45 a.m. The prime minister is expected to meet with Chow at 2:15 p.m.

With files from the Canadian Press