Item - 2023.PB7.10

The Toronto Preservation Board recommends to the Planning and Housing Committee that:

1. City Council approve the grant awards for the 2023 Toronto Heritage Grant Program for the following 10 heritage properties, to assist grant recipients in funding the scope of conservation work generally described in Attachment 1 of the report (May 31, 2023) from the Senior Manager, Heritage Planning, Urban Design, City Planning:

- 12 Alpha Avenue;

- 134 First Avenue;

- 46 Rose Avenue;

- 27 Madison Avenue;

- 8 Draper Street;

- 400 Passmore Avenue;

- 73 Simcoe Street;

- 34 Beaconsfield Avenue;

- 270 Gladstone Avenue; and

- 292 Annette Street,

2. City Council direct that the use of the grant awards outlined in Recommendation 1 of the report (May 31, 2023) from the Senior Manager, Heritage Planning, Urban Design, City Planning, be limited to only the conservation work approved by the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning, and that the issuing of the grant award be subject to the grant recipient satisfying all conditions as set out in the Letter of Understanding between the City and the grant recipient.

Neil MacKay, Planner, Heritage Preservation, Urban Design, City Planning, and Amir Nissan, Planner, Heritage Preservation, Urban Design, City Planning, gave a presentation on 2023 Toronto Heritage Grant Awards.

This report recommends the approval of ten grants totalling $317,000.00 under the Toronto Heritage Grant Program. The recommended recipients will generate approximately $611,406.32 in private investment for work to conserve irreplaceable cultural heritage resources that contribute to the City's social and economic prosperity by maintaining Toronto's unique sense of place.

The Toronto Heritage Grant Program provides matching grant funds for eligible heritage conservation work on residential properties or tax-exempt properties in the City of Toronto designated under Part IV or V of the Ontario Heritage Act (OHA). Applicants may receive a grant once every five years for up to 50% of the cost of eligible conservation work. Owners of house form buildings may receive up to $10,000.00 or, if replacing an entire cedar or slate roof assembly, up to $20,000.00 every ten years.

Owners of non-house form buildings and any tax-exempt properties including house form buildings may be eligible for a grant equivalent to 50% of the cost of eligible conservation work, with no maximum limit.

The Toronto Heritage Grant Program has a budget of $317,000.00 in the City Planning 2022 Operating Budget and is administered by Heritage Planning, City Planning.

The properties that have been recommended for a grant award vary in size and location across Toronto. Several grant projects are at residential properties located in Heritage Conservation Districts (HCDs), including properties located within the Cabbagetown North, Riverdale, West Annex and Draper Street Heritage Conservation Districts. In addition, there are a few notable Part IV-designated properties benefitting from heritage grants this year, including the St. Anne's Anglican Church, Armadale Free Methodist Church, The Heintzman House and the St. Andrew's Church Manse. 

Due to the high demand for funding assistance, which exceeded the program budget, two projects are not being recommended for the full amount of the grant request. Of the 11 applications for funding, 10 were recommended for approval in whole or part and one was not recommended as the proposed works were deemed not to qualify in accordance with the rules of the Toronto Heritage Grant Program.