Addressing Toronto, Ontario and Canada’s housing crisis demands urgent action and new investments from all orders of government. It also requires a range of approaches and partnerships across all sectors focused on increasing housing supply, protecting existing homes and improving housing stability for residents. In terms of new supply, the City of Toronto recognizes that a range of new homes is needed across the full housing continuum to reduce pressures throughout the entire housing system, improve housing affordability and access, particularly for lower and middle-income households, and to support growth. In December 2022, City Council adopted the Housing Action Plan 2022-2026 (Housing Action Plan), which focuses on enabling both market, non-market and mixed income housing production in order to achieve or exceed the provincial housing target of 285,000 new homes over the next 10 years. Acknowledging that more specific and targeted approaches are needed to address the unmet housing needs of low-and-moderate-income households, at its meeting of November 8 and 9, 2023, City Council adopted Item EX9.3 – “Generational Transformation of Toronto’s Housing System to Urgently Build More Affordable Homes”, which updated the HousingTO 2020-2030 Action Plan (HousingTO Plan) and established a new supply target of 65,000 rent-controlled homes with a focus on increasing non-market housing supply. These homes will support and complement delivery of the Housing Action Plan targets. Item EX9.3 also outlined a range of actions and new and enhanced investments required from both the Government of Canada and Government of Ontario to complement City efforts and meet shared housing and growth targets. On March 17, 2023, the Government of Canada, through the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation announced a new Housing Accelerator Fund as part of the National Housing Strategy. Housing Accelerator Fund will provide $4 billion in funding nationally to local governments and Indigenous communities until 2026-27 to accelerate the supply of housing across Canada, with a target of achieving 100,000 net new permitted housing units, over and above the estimated number of building permits that would have been issued without support from the program. In accordance with Council direction through Item - 2023.MM5.28, City staff submitted a Housing Accelerator Fund application to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation on June 14, 2023, followed by a revised submission in September, 2023. The City’s Housing Accelerator Fund application included an action plan with a list of eight initiatives (Attachment 2) focused on increasing the supply of new homes — protecting existing homes and renters — revitalizing neighbourhoods across Toronto — and enhancing the City’s capacity to accelerate the review, approval, and delivery of new homes through organizational re-alignment and new technology tools. The attached report provides Council with an overview of the City's Housing Accelerator Fund application. It also seeks Council approval of the initiatives as well as proposed enhancements to address requests made by The Honourable Minister Sean Fraser, Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities, to Mayor Olivia Chow, with respect to the City’s Housing Accelerator Fund application. Further, the report seeks authority for the City to enter into a Contribution Agreement with Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, subject to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s final approval of the City’s Housing Accelerator Fund application. The attached report seeks City Council’s approval of the recommendations for the City to receive approximately $471 million in anticipated funding over four equal annual installments, beginning in the fourth quarter of 2023. This funding is critical to supporting Toronto and Canada’s shared housing objectives, including advancing delivery of the City’s Housing Action Plan, HousingTO Plan and the federal National Housing Strategy targets. Specifically, Housing Accelerator Fund investments will provide Toronto with a predictable funding stream over the next three years, which is pivotal to unlocking projects and accelerating the delivery of new homes, particularly purpose-built affordable rental homes near transit. In addition to scaling up new housing supply, federal Housing Accelerator Fund investments will enable the City to expand the Multi-Unit Residential Acquisition program which has been successful in supporting the non-profit housing sector to acquire and convert market rental properties into permanently affordable rental homes for lower income residents. This Motion is urgent as City Council approval is required for the City to start receiving the anticipated funding beginning in the fourth quarter of 2023.
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