Tory lays out housing plan to reach provinical target of 285,000 in 10 years

Just one day after Ontario passed Bill 39 giving Toronto and Ottawa mayors the power to enact bylaws with only minority approval, Mayor John Tory has released his housing plan.

The plan will be presented to council on Wednesday at which time the City Manager will be directed to report how each of the items will be approved and implemented, including timelines by March 2023.

The aim of the plan will be to meet the provincial housing target of 285,000 new homes over the next 10 years and aims to address all aspects of the housing spectrum from student housing to affordable housing to housing in the Port Lands and on the Waterfront.

Tory said the plan includes the following policy and regulatory components:

• Amending the City-wide zoning by-law to be more permissive from a housing opportunities perspective;
• Complete the review of the City’s Official Plan to ensure that it aligns with the need for more housing in areas of the City identified for residential opportunities;
• Review the City’s urban design guidelines, heritage standards and urban forestry policies to ensure they align with the priority of optimizing the delivery housing opportunities for a range of housing forms;
• Amend the Zoning By-law to increase zoning permissions on major streets;
• Amend the Zoning By-law to create transition zones between commercial and residential areas;
• Increase density within Neighbourhoods through additional permissions including but not limited to multiplex permissions and removing exclusionary zoning; and
• Revisit the plans for the Portlands, waterfront and other major change area projects to ensure housing density is optimized.

He also announced several program components during the announcements.

• Develop community housing intensification plans that support and grow existing co-op and non-profit rental homes plus add capacity for the sectors to be able to operate the new homes;
• Update the Open-Door program and existing affordable housing programs;
• Create a Post-Secondary housing strategy in partnership with post-secondary institutions on increasing the availability of student housing;
• Develop a strategy to engage with School boards to encourage the creation of housing on their lands;
• Develop training, trade, and strategies to promote local hiring as necessary to increase construction market capacity and other industrial strategy approaches and levers that can be advocated to increase housing production; and
• Revisit approved Housing Now sites with the intention of increasing housing supply and supporting affordable housing delivery.

The public accountability to track these goals will including a publicly available database to track affordable rental units that have been approved, are under construction and that have been built.

The housing plan is being supported by both the Chair of the Planning and Housing Committee, Councillor Brad Bradford, and Deputy Mayor Jennifer McKelvie.

“The generational challenge that is the housing supply and affordability crisis has never been felt so acutely across our city. We need to acknowledge that new measures and approaches will be required to move us forward,” said Bradford.

“As Council, we have a responsibility to work together to ensure that as our city grows, we have the necessary infrastructure, support, and housing, especially affordable housing, for people to build their lives in, for years to come,” added McKelvie.