Item - 2016.EX16.11

The Executive Committee recommends that:

1.  City Council, as the ultimate owner of 58,500 rental units through its sole shareholder corporation, commit to Toronto Community Housing achieving the distinction of being a landlord of choice with a reputation for good repair, cleanliness, and safe and healthy buildings.

2.  City Council direct staff to develop, for Council consideration, an implementation plan, detailing the actions required to:

a.  transition a portion of the Toronto Community Housing Corporation portfolio to a new community-based non-profit corporation;

b.  transition a portion of the Toronto Community Housing Corporation portfolio to existing and interested community-based non-profit social housing providers;

c.  create more mixed-income communities within the social housing sector as a whole, including within Toronto Community Housing Corporation;

d.  create better buildings and more of them, including potential revitalization projects in the Etobicoke/York and Scarborough Community Council districts;

e.  decentralize operations including the creation of an innovation lab established on a lean management model, that actively engages with tenants and innovates in response to tenant feedback;

f.  strengthen partnerships, including detailed opportunities to work with community-based service providers, Local Health Integration Networks, the City, and other service providers to enhance capacity and quality of service delivery;

g.  reform the rent geared to income system, including opportunities to provide tenants with increased opportunities for choice within the social housing sector; and

h.  clarify Toronto Community Housing Corporation mandate and responsibilities within the shareholder direction.

3.  City Council direct staff to review the financial and budget implications and additional funding required to implement each proposed recommendation and report in the first quarter of 2017.

4.  City Council direct that the Deputy City Manager, Cluster A strike a Toronto Community Housing Corporation Resident Advisory Group to help guide the development of the implementation plan.

5.  City Council direct that the Deputy City Manager, Cluster A strike an Implementation Steering Committee including representatives of the Toronto Community Housing Corporation Board and require City staff to help guide the development of the implementation plan.

6.  City Council request that the City and Toronto Community Housing Corporation undertake a detailed review of Toronto Community Housing Corporation's assets to help determine which buildings Toronto Community Housing Corporation should renovate; which buildings need to be replaced; which buildings may be transferred; and who is best to operate each buildings and that the initial findings be reported to Executive Committee in the first quarter of 2017.

7.  City Council commend the Governments of Ontario and Canada for recent program and policy announcements, but further encourage both governments to actively support Toronto Community Housing Corporation's capital repair program with new or existing tools including capital grants or interest-free loans, implementation of a program to convert existing high interest Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) mortgages to reflect the lower rates in the current market environment, streamline approvals and donations or preferential sale of surplus public lands, while specifically encouraging the Government of Ontario to adjust utility scales and social assistance rent scales for those Torontonians living in social housing who are in receipt of Ontario Works or Ontario Disability Support Program supports.

8.  City Council thank the Task Force Members for their work in preparing both the Interim and Final Report on Toronto Community Housing Corporation.  

9.  City Council request the City Manager to include the following in the development of the implementation plan to be considered by City Council in the second quarter of 2017:

a. strategies to ensure that Rent Geared to Income (RGI) housing provided through both Toronto Community Housing Corporation and potential non-profit housing achieves a common performance standard; and

b. possible strategies to establish a 70/30 percent ratio while retaining the current number of overall Rent Geared to Income (RGI) subsidies within the City.

10.  City Council request the City Manager to include, for Council consideration in the second quarter of 2017, a detailed financial plan identifying the resources required to develop a Tenants First Implementation Plan, including appropriate funding sources to meet the goal established in Recommendation 1.

11.  City Council request the City Manager to develop a public consultation process to inform the implementation plan to be considered by City Council in the second quarter of 2017.

Toronto Community Housing Corporation (TCHC) has experienced significant challenges since its creation through the amalgamation of three housing entities: CityHome, Metro Toronto Housing Company Limited and Metro Toronto Housing Authority in 2002.  There have been a number of high profile governance and leadership challenges over the last six years.  More recently, financial issues have arisen due to a combination of factors, including a business model that is fundamentally broken, a significant state of good repair backlog, and lack of clarity in its mandate.  Security and community health concerns continue to pervade Toronto Community Housing Corporation.  The size of Toronto Community Housing Corporation and its numerous lines of business have limited its ability to respond to a broad range of communities, neighbourhoods and residents it serves. 

Toronto Community Housing Corporation was established as a sole shareholder corporation and intentionally provided with a block subsidy, in order to allow it to operate with minimal interference from the City.  However, throughout Toronto Community Housing Corporation's history, the City has been far more involved in the management and operations of Toronto Community Housing Corporation than originally anticipated.  This involvement has taken many forms, including: Councillor engagement in general, Board directions and relationships, and interactions between staff within the City and Toronto Community Housing Corporation.  This report recommends that Council take a more strategic role in both the management of the social housing system and in providing direction to Toronto Community Housing Corporation.

In January 2015, Mayor Tory established a Task Force, under the leadership of Senator Eggleton, to review Toronto Community Housing Corporation with a particular focus on how to improve conditions for tenants and how to create a sustainable business model.  This report considers the rationale, support for and implications of the Task Force's Transformative Ideas. Staff have undertaken broad stakeholder consultation, a review of other jurisdictions, developed an approach for detailed financial analysis and modelling, and held discussions with members of the Task Force.  Based on this review staff are recommending that Council support the five transformative ideas, with some minor modifications:

1.  (partial) transition to a new (and existing) community-based non-profit housing corporations;

2.  create mixed-income communities;

3.  better buildings and (where possible) more of them;

4.  decentralize operations/strengthen partnerships; and

5.  reform the rent geared to income system.

The Task Force final report was tabled by the Mayor at Executive Committee in January, 2016 and the Task Force recommendations were referred to staff to review and provide advice to Council. The following four assumptions guided staff's review and analysis of the Task Force recommendations:

1.  the status quo is not an option; significant change is required;

2.  improvements in the lived experience and quality of life for Torontonians living in Toronto Community Housing Corporation is central to a successful model;

3.  reform in the social housing system will inform changes in Toronto Community Housing Corporation; and

4.  the way forward must build financial and social sustainability within TCHC and the wider social housing system. 

While this report reflects a strategy for significant change, it is important to note that there remain various structural and systemic barriers that will continue to present challenges as the City moves towards a transformed social housing system.  Structural poverty, increasing incidence of vulnerability, and ever-widening disparities in wealth continue to present as challenges, not only to the outcomes sought through the design and re-design of social housing, but to the success of the City's Poverty Reduction Strategy, Strong Neighbourhoods Strategy and for City-building as a whole.  

This report sets out a set of strategic directions aimed at enhancing Toronto Community Housing Corporation's capacity to provide clean, safe, well-maintained, affordable homes for residents and to help foster neighbourhoods where residents have opportunities.  It also identifies new service models that will help improve the financial sustainability of Toronto Community Housing Corporation and enhance the quality of life of Torontonians who call Toronto Community Housing Corporation home.  Notwithstanding these recommendations, a higher level of investment by the City will also be required, moving forward.   

If implemented, the recommendations in this report will also help to enhance the capacity of the social housing sector and facilitate the development of new and innovative ways to deliver sustainable, supportive and tenant focussed social housing in Toronto.