Item - 2019.PH5.5

The Planning and Housing Committee:

1.  Deferred consideration of the item until the July 3, 2019 meeting of the Planning and Housing Committee, in recognition of the current Auditor General's report on Toronto Community Housing Corporation revitalizations, with the request that:

a. The City Manager review the proposed stage-gating process in Attachment 1 and the proposed consent approval in Attachment 2 to the report (April 12, 2019) from the Deputy City Manager, Community and Social Services, in the context of the evolving mandates of CreateTO and the new Housing Secretariat.

b. The City Manager, in consultation with the Chief Executive Officer, Toronto Community Housing Corporation and CreateTO report on the three revitalization sites in Recommendation 3 of the report (April 12, 2019) from the Deputy City Manager, Community and Social Services, and provide the full project details, including a plan for net new affordable rental housing.

Toronto Community Housing Corporation undertakes revitalization projects in communities across Toronto. Revitalization projects aim to address issues relating to long-term maintenance costs associated with aging housing stock, generate funding to renovate and replace social housing stock, and provide opportunities for community development and investment through improved design, additional facilities and services, and community economic development initiatives. As Toronto Community Housing Corporation's sole Shareholder, Service Manager, and as a municipality holding approval authority for planning applications, the City has a number of mechanisms to approve and consent revitalization in Toronto Community Housing Corporation communities. The City also makes contributions to the costs of revitalization. After nearly twenty years of revitalization activities, there is an opportunity to develop a clear and transparent framework for approvals and consents to better align revitalization projects with the objectives of the upcoming Toronto Housing Strategy 2020 – 2030, the City-wide Real Estate Strategy, and the work of Tenants First to review the mandate and funding for Toronto Community Housing Corporation. A new approvals framework is critical for ensuring that the City is able to take opportunities to strategically and cost-effectively achieve city-building objectives through revitalization projects.

This report outlines a new approvals framework for revitalization, including a new Initial Development Proposal report to be submitted for Council approval before procurement for a development partner begins. This framework provides Council with critical information regarding the nature and scale of proposed revitalization projects, earlier in the process to enhance Council's oversight and support informed decision-making, as well as creating an opportunity to take a more integrated approach to city-building on Toronto Community Housing Corporation and City lands.

The framework adopts a staged approvals process that is currently under development for all major capital projects (for example, see EX4.1 Toronto's Transit Expansion Program - Update and Next Steps). The "stage gate process" identifies the stages of work throughout a capital project's lifecycle and ensures key decisions are made at defined stages of a project. Key features of the stage gate process include aligning City Council's funding decisions with the appropriate level of project design and providing an appropriate level of project oversight to project stakeholders.