Toronto aims to fast track affordable housing development with Open Door program

There’s no doubt that the lack of affordable housing has become a serious issue in Toronto. The quickly rising prices of new low-rise homes, especially detached homes, and the low inventory levels have eliminated the dream of homeownership for many. For some, even the lower priced condo units in Toronto are still out of reach.

So, it’s kind of exciting that Mayor John Tory and Toronto’s Housing Advocate Councillor Ana Bailão (Ward 18 Davenport) and Councillor Joe Cressy (Ward 20 Trinity-Spadina) announced the “Open Door” program to fast track the development of affordable housing.

"We need to do everything we can to build more affordable housing in Toronto, and we need to do it much faster. This action plan will help deliver more affordable housing to people who need it," says Tory. "As part of this affordable housing action plan, the City will re-double its efforts and say yes to developers who want to work with us and get the job done in half the time.”

In order for this to be a reality, three things need to happen: The City needs to implement a “Gold Star” review process (no details yet on what this entails), the City needs to offer more financial incentives, and there needs to be some funding coming in from the provincial and federal governments.

Provincial and federal governments also need to speed up the delivery of surplus land and create tax and financial incentives to encourage more developers to include more affordable housing in their projects and master-plans.  

We’ve already seen a couple big name developers doing their part to build affordable rental and ownership units in Toronto. Tridel is including affordable housing at their waterfront community, Bayside Toronto, and they are also including many affordable units throughout the revitalization of Alexandra Park at Spadina and Queen. And, The Daniels Corporation has been making headlines for years with their revitalization of Regent Park.

According to a recent release from the City, the Open Door program would include:

• Activating five surplus City sites for the construction of 389 affordable rental and ownership homes
• Releasing an inventory of 13 other City sites with affordable housing potential
• Encouraging the private sector to build more affordable housing by offering City financial incentives currently limited to non-profit groups
• Supporting the creation of 200 affordable ownership homes annually through a development charges deferral initiative, and
• Providing a minimum of 500 housing allowances to increase affordability in buildings constructed under Open Door.

Source: Toronto News Releases

The announcement of this program took place at Block 36 North, a piece of surplus City land that is zoned for affordable housing, but has remained vacant for 20 years. In early 2016, the City will be issuing a Request for Proposal regarding the future of the site, with Open Door incentives outlined. In May 2016, the City will conduct a report to analyze the success of the Open Door program.

"We have a housing crisis in our city, with more than 91,000 families on the waiting list for affordable housing," says Cressy. "Today's announcement that the Block 36 North site is finally being activated for the construction of 80 new affordable rental homes through the Open Door program is an important step towards building a more equitable city."

What kinds of incentives do developers need in order to include more affordable housing in their new towers and communities? Tridel and Daniels are already doing it. Should it be mandatory to include a high amount of affordable housing per site?