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 outlined the urgent need for new and enhanced government investments to strengthen and shift the housing system to increase the supply of public and non-profit owned homes. These homes are critical to adequately address the unmet housing needs of low- and moderate-income households. A key federal program that has supported the City and the Indigenous and non-profit sectors to create new deeply affordable supportive housing is the federal Rapid Housing Initiative (RHI). The RHI program provides up to 100% capital grant funding towards the costs to build or acquire and renovate properties to create net new affordable and supportive rental homes for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness. With almost $440 million in federal investments over Phases One and Two of the RHI program, the City has been able to accelerate the delivery of almost 1,100 new homes to successfully move people out of homelessness. As part of Budget 2022, the Government of Canada announced Phase Three of the RHI and allocated $1.5 billion to create over 4,500 affordable rental homes across Canada. In July, 2022, through Item PH35.21 , City Council authorized staff to submit an application to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) for funding under this new phase of program and to report back on the outcome of the application, once known. This report responds to Council’s request and provides an update on the City’s RHI funding application. As part of Phase Three of the RHI program, CMHC has recently approved a total investment of $169.4 million in grant funding to support 9 projects, estimated to create 416 net new rent-geared-to-income (RGI) homes across Toronto over the next 18 months. While this allocation falls short of the City’s requested funding to deliver over 1,300 affordable and supportive homes, the City greatly appreciates this federal commitment and looks forward to additional opportunities for collaboration and enhanced partnership. Approved and announced projects are outlined in this report, and Confidential Attachment 1 to this report provides details of the approved and unannounced projects, which must remain confidential until publicly announced by CMHC, as required in the City’s funding agreement with CMHC. To deliver deeply affordable rental and supportive housing, a tri-government partnership approach is essential. To complement federal capital investments, the City has committed its own land and financial incentives to support delivery of the new homes. This report recommends that City Council request the provincial government to also join federal and City efforts and commit to incremental and sustained operating funding (for housing benefits and support services) to help create net new supportive housing opportunities. This is on top of the $48 million annual commitment made by the provincial government for 2023-2025 to support an estimated 2,000 supportive housing opportunities created over 2021 and 2022 through new construction, acquisitions, and layering on supports to existing rental units. Deeply affordable homes with a range of individualized, wraparound social and health supports are key to ending chronic homelessness. Besides providing people with improved health and social outcomes, investments in permanent affordable and supportive housing help reduce systemic and structural inequities — strengthen our housing, homeless and public health systems — and result in avoided costs and cost-savings for all orders of government. This report also provides a status update on in-flight rapid and modular housing projects, in line with direction from City Council in July 2023 through Item AU2.7 . Specifically, Item AU2.7 from the Auditor General recommended that staff provide Council with more regular updates on the status of modular housing projects. Further, this report seeks City Council approval for staff to allocate funding from the Housing Secretariat approved 2023 Capital and Operating Budgets, as well as federal and provincial sources, to previously approved RHI projects, including proponent-led projects, subject to funding availability and conditions specified by the Housing Secretariat. These authorities are required to ensure that in-flight City, Indigenous and non-profit projects, which are essential to relieving pressure on the emergency shelter system, can continue to advance despite the current challenging construction environment with rapidly escalating labour and material costs. A whole-of-government and whole-of-community approach is needed to effectively address the housing and homelessness crisis which threatens the social, economic, and cultural growth and prosperity of Toronto, Ontario, and Canada. As outlined in Item EX9.3, new and enhanced policy, program, and financial tools are urgently needed to meet the shared housing supply and growth targets of all orders of government. This includes a commitment from the federal and provincial governments to invest in the HousingTO 2020-2030 Action Plan. Investments in upstream interventions, including changes to social assistance programs to reflect the current cost of living, and increased access to health and social services, are also urgently needed to prevent more households from falling into poverty, housing precarity and homelessness.
No projects traced to this item yet.