Item - 2015.EX4.7

The Executive Committee:

1.  Authorized the Director, Affordable Housing Office and the General Manager, Shelter, Support and Housing Administration to form an interdivisional steering committee including, but not limited to: City Planning, Toronto Public Health, Long Term Care Homes and Services, Municipal Licensing and Standards, Corporate Finance, and Social Development, Finance and Administration, to oversee and advise on the review and update of the City's Housing Opportunities Toronto: Affordable Housing Action Plan 2010 – 2020.

2.  Authorized the Director, Affordable Housing Office and the General Manager, Shelter, Support and Housing Administration to execute the work plan outlined in the Comments section of the report (February 19, 2015) from the Director, Affordable Housing Office and the General Manager, Shelter, Support and Housing Administration, including strategic public consultations, and to make recommendations to the Affordable Housing Committee, Executive and City Council in early 2016 to update the Housing Action Plan.

3. Requested the Director, Affordable Housing Office and the General Manager, Shelter, Support and Housing Administration to include in the 2016 report the most current data, with analysis, on income, poverty and housing affordability in Toronto including, but not limited to, median annual household income, home prices and income requirements to purchase a home, the percentage of households in poverty and core housing need, vacancy rates and average market rents. Also to be included in the report is data for the City of Toronto on:

- homelessness (including the number of people living on the streets and using shelters);
- the number of households on the social housing waiting list; and

- the annual number of new affordable housing units completed each year from 2010-2015.

4. Requested the Director, Affordable Housing Office and the General Manager, Shelter, Support and Housing Administration to review the federal report entitled "In From the Margins: A Call to Action on Poverty, Housing and Homelessness", prepared for the Senate Subcommittee on Cities by Senators Art Eggleton and Hugh Segal, to see if there are any relevant additional recommendations which can be added to the Housing Action Plan.

This report seeks the approval of the Executive Committee and the Affordable Housing Committee to proceed with a strategic updating of Housing Opportunities Toronto – An Affordable Housing Action Plan 2010-2020 (HOT). This includes approval of the work plan outlined in this report, which provides for the release of a five-year report card on progress to date, a targeted public consultation process, and a report to Council in early 2016 on proposed changes to update the 10-year action plan.

City Council approved HOT and its 67 proposed actions in 2009. In its first five years the housing action plan has served the City well.  It has provided a City-wide blueprint for actions and guided the work of the many Divisions and agencies that have a role in delivering housing and homeless programs and policies. While federal/provincial investments in housing and homeless services have been made during the first five years of the Action Plan, they have fallen short of meeting needs.  In this regard, the Action Plan will require the federal and provincial governments to step up, rather than step back from, providing sufficient sustainable funding for the City's efforts to be successful.

The five-year review will incorporate work underway or planned in other divisions that have an impact on the City's housing and homelessness policies and programming.

The review and update of Housing Opportunities Toronto will also satisfy the provincial requirement under the Housing Services Act to conduct a five-year update and begin reporting annually on progress. The Province has also requested that the City look to identify actions to address housing issues affecting victims of domestic violence, as well work with the Province to develop additional performance measures.

An interdivisional steering committee, co-chaired by the Director, Affordable Housing Office and the General Manager, Shelter, Support and Housing Administration, will direct the three phases of the review.