Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s office announced Thursday that Toronto will receive $471 million in federal funding to build new housing.
In an announcement in Toronto, Trudeau said the money comes from Ottawa’s Housing Accelerator Fund and should help Toronto build about 12,000 new homes over three years. It should facilitate production of more than 53,000 units over the next 10 years.
Prime Minister Trudeau said Toronto will make development easier by simplifying zoning requirements and modernizing regulations. He said the city plans to expand existing affordable rental programs and build more housing near transit.
”[Toronto] If we want to remain a great city, we need to make housing more affordable. People who come here must be able to afford to build a life and a family,” Trudeau said.
Prime Minister Trudeau and Federal Housing Minister Sean Fraser also joined Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow in the announcement.
Fraser said too many people in Toronto have long commutes to school or find jobs in areas they can’t afford to live in. In addition to density near transit, the agreement would lead to a “dramatic” increase in population density near secondary school graduations, he said. institution.
“This will allow people to live in communities where they have services, economic opportunities, and infrastructure that already supports their lives,” Fraser said.
However, Fraser acknowledged in an interview with CBC Toronto that it will take time for Thursday’s agreement to have a concrete impact in the city.
“Despite the fact that we’ve reached an agreement with the City of Toronto, it’s no mistake to me that rents didn’t go down overnight, and they’re not going to go down over the next few days,” he said.
Chow welcomed Thursday’s announcement.
“Today is December 21st [the] Winter Solstice, it’s a time to put darkness behind us. It’s a new beginning, a time for change. And we have gathered here to announce a hopeful new beginning,” Chow said.
Watch | Prime Minister Trudeau explains why the announcement is more than just a drop in the bucket:
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, along with the federal housing minister and the mayor of Toronto, announced funding that will help the city build more than 53,000 homes over the next 10 years. Trudeau said Ottawa’s Housing Acceleration Fund isn’t just about building units, it’s also about simplifying zoning requirements and modernizing regulations to make development easier.
In addition to boosting housing supply, the deal will also address Toronto’s so-called retrofit problem, according to a news release from Prime Minister Trudeau’s office. This release does not provide details on how this is done.
The Housing Accelerator Fund aims to build 380,000 new homes over the next 10 years. Ontario alone will need 1.84 million housing units by 2030, according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Report released in September.
Asked if today’s announcement to build more than 53,000 homes was just a drop in the bucket, Trudeau said the fund will not only build units, but also direct investment from the federal government. He said the aim is to change the rules so they can create more housing density without.
Announcement after the city was asked to adjust the application.
The announcement comes a month after Fraser told the city it needed to change its building policy if it wanted to access its share of the housing fund. At last week’s City Council meeting, councilors voted to approve changes to improve the City of Toronto’s application to Ottawa.
Among the changes passed on the ballot are that the city is considering allowing four-story residential developments by right (meaning owners have the right to freely develop their properties); , which includes consideration of allowing six units with the same permit. The city has also committed to locating affordable properties near public transportation.
The $4 billion Housing Acceleration Fund is a federal effort to encourage local governments to change ordinances and regulations to encourage more housing construction in exchange for more funding.
Changes Ottawa is pushing include denser zoning and faster issuance of permits.
Including today’s announcement, the City of Ottawa has reached agreements with 16 municipalities across the country.
The city’s application included eight initiatives.
According to a city news release accompanying the announcement, the housing built through the deal will include new income-based rental units and market rental housing located within mixed-income, mixed-use, transit-oriented communities. That’s what it means.
In applying for federal funding, the City outlined eight initiatives it would use to rapidly increase affordable housing in Toronto.
- Transform the processes and technologies used to speed up review development applications.
- We build new, income-aligned homes while revitalizing Toronto’s community housing properties.
- We protect rental housing and support renters.
- Develop city land as new rental housing.
- Transforming urban waterfronts to support social, economic and cultural growth.
- New rental housing supply incentive system.
- Expansion of mid-rise housing, that is, low-rise housing that is not single-family homes, which is in short supply.
- Streamline the planning approval process and increase rents in apartment neighborhood zones.
