Item - 2018.EX30.18

The Executive Committee recommends that:

1.  City Council authorize principal payments of the two City loans, totalling $7,500,000, to YWCA of Greater Toronto from the City's Capital Revolving Reserve Fund for Affordable Housing (XR1058) be deferred until June 1, 2034 and interest payments otherwise payable to the City under these two loans be forgiven until June 1, 2034. 
 

2.  City Council authorize the Director, Affordable Housing Office, to negotiate, enter into and execute on behalf of the City an Amending Agreement to the Municipal Funding Agreement for 110 Edward Street between YWCA of Greater Toronto and the City, in accordance with the amendments outlined in Recommendation 1 above, on terms and conditions satisfactory to the Director, Affordable Housing Office, and in a form satisfactory to the City Solicitor.

This report recommends changes to the terms and conditions of two existing City loans made to the YWCA of Greater Toronto (YWCA) from the Capital Revolving Reserve Fund for Affordable Housing (CRRF). These loans totalling $7.5M supported the construction of 300 new affordable rental homes for vulnerable women and families, including Indigenous households, at 110 Edward Street, a City-owned property purchased with federal-provincial funds and now leased to the YWCA.

The proposed adjustments to defer principal and interest payments on the City loans until 2034, and to forgive interest payments until June 1, 2034, will alleviate financial pressure on the YWCA created by unanticipated security and electricity costs. By 2034 a loan to the organization from Infrastructure Ontario (in the amount of $5.2 million) will be fully repaid putting the YWCA in a better position to service the City loans.

In September 2017, Executive Committee referred a March 2017 staff report (deferred from the April 2017 Executive Committee meeting) on the proposed loan adjustments to the Acting Chief Financial Officer and the Deputy City Manager, Cluster A to discuss with the Province potential adjustments to provincial and municipal loans to the YWCA and to report to Executive Committee by the first quarter of 2018.

In December 2017, the Minister of Infrastructure Ontario (IO) wrote to Mayor Tory declining to adjust the repayment terms of its loans to the YWCA citing added costs and inherent risks of a longer repayment period on loans that are in good standing; therefore, this report recommends changes to the City loans with the YWCA.

The Deputy City Manager, Cluster A and Acting Chief Financial Officer have determined that these amendments will support the long-term viability of 110 Edward Street, one of the largest affordable housing developments in Ontario, without unduly compromising the City's financial interests.