Item - 2023.PH6.1

The Planning and Housing Committee recommends that:  

Improving Access to Rent-Geared-to-Income and Affordable Rental Homes

1. City Council direct the Executive Director, Housing Secretariat to establish eligibility rules for a household to occupy an Affordable Rental Housing unit, including that the income of the household, determined in the manner specified in the rules, meet a specified income threshold and not exceed a specified maximum income, which may vary by unit types and sizes; and to review and adjust such rules annually as needed.

2. City Council direct the Executive Director, Housing Secretariat to establish eligibility rules requiring that, in order for a household to be eligible to occupy an Affordable Rental Housing unit or to acquire an interest in housing under the Affordable Home Ownership program, the value of the assets of the household, subject to specified asset exemptions, may not exceed a specified maximum value, and which may provide for different maximum values based on unit and household types and sizes.

3. City Council direct the Executive Director, Housing Secretariat to align the choice-based system configurations and Rent-Geared-to-Income program rules with the affordable rental housing program as it relates to application dates and a single offer rule, where applicable, to deliver a streamlined access system.

Memorandum of Understanding with Co-operative Housing Federation of Toronto Inc. and Pre-Development Funding for CHFT Development Society Inc.

4. City Council authorize the Executive Director, Housing Secretariat to negotiate and enter into, on behalf of the City of Toronto, a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding with the Co-operative Housing Federation of Toronto Inc. (CHFT) and CHFT Development Society Inc. (CDSI), on the terms and conditions outlined in Attachment 3 to the report (September 14, 2023) from the Executive Director, Housing Secretariat and on such other or amended terms and conditions acceptable to the Executive Director, Housing Secretariat, and in a form satisfactory to the City Solicitor.

5. City Council authorize the Executive Director, Housing Secretariat to negotiate and enter into, on behalf of the City of Toronto, any funding agreements with Co-operative Housing Federation of Toronto Inc. (CHFT) to provide one-time funding from the Development Charges Reserve Fund for Subsidized Housing (XR2116), in the amount of up to $100,000, included in the Housing Secretariat’s approved 2023 Operating Budget, to support capacity building for existing non-profit housing co-operatives, on terms and conditions satisfactory to the Executive Director, Housing Secretariat, in a form approved by the City Solicitor.

6. City Council authorize the Executive Director, Housing Secretariat to negotiate and enter into, on behalf of the City of Toronto, any funding agreements with CHFT Development Society Inc. (CDSI) to provide one-time funding from the Development Charges Reserve Fund for Subsidized Housing (XR2116) in the amount of up to $400,000, included in the Housing Secretariat’s approved 2023 Operating Budget, to support the identification of and pre-development work related to the new affordable non-profit housing co-operative units identified through the Memorandum of Understanding with Co-operative Housing Federation of Toronto Inc. (CHFT) and CDSI (the New Co-operative Units), on terms and conditions satisfactory to the Executive Director, Housing Secretariat, in a form approved by the City Solicitor.

Intergovernmental Requests

7. City Council re-iterate its requests to the Government of Ontario to support delivery of the HousingTO 2020-2030 Action Plan and provide $7.6 billion in outstanding capital and operating funding by 2030.

8. City Council re-iterate its requests to the Government of Canada to support delivery of the HousingTO 2020-2030 Action Plan and provide $7.7 billion in outstanding capital and operating funding by 2030.

9. City Council direct the Executive Director, Housing Secretariat to update the HousingTO Action Plan 2020-2030 Dashboard to include the number of new affordable and supportive housing units that are either currently under construction or completed.

10. City Council direct the Executive Director, Housing Secretariat to ensure that the MyAccesstoHousingTO system and assistance to transition people to that system are compliant with the Ontario Human Rights Code, the human rights approach to housing described in the Toronto Housing Charter and the City of Toronto Digital Infrastructure Framework.

11. City Council direct the Executive Director, Housing Secretariat to extend the deadline for applicants for rent-geared-to-income (RGI) housing to transition to the MyAccesstoHousingTO system to at least January 31, 2024, and assess in advance of that revised deadline whether there is a further need to extend the deadline.

12. City Council direct the Executive Director, Housing Secretariat to, once the deadline to transition to MyAccesstoHousingTO passes, provide a 24-month grace period in which any rent-geared-to-income (RGI) applicant who has not transitioned to the MyAccesstoHousingTO system can transition to MyAccesstoHousingTO while maintaining the date on which they last applied for RGI housing. In advance of the end of this grace period, staff shall report to City Council on whether there is a need to extend the grace period to ensure that no one who is both seeking and entitled to RGI housing loses their place on the waiting list.

13. City Council direct the Executive Director, Housing Secretariat to continue to improve digital access initiatives to provide appropriate support for individuals transitioning to MyAccesstoHousingTO in consultation with relevant organizations and individuals.

14. City Council direct the Executive Director, Housing Secretariat to provide additional training to shelter and outreach workers who support applicants transitioning to the MyAccesstoHousingTO system.

15. City Council direct the Executive Director, Social Development Finance and Administration, in consultation with the Executive Director, Housing Secretariat, to consider whether additional staff resources are required for the Application Support Centre (ASC) to reduce wait times and effectively support applicants for rent-geared-to-income (RGI) housing and bring forward any related recommendations through the 2024 budget process for consideration.

The Executive Director, Housing Secretariat gave a presentation to the Planning and Housing Committee.

Over the course of 2022 and to-date in 2023, Toronto saw strong signs of social, economic and cultural recovery. During this same time, however, the scale and complexity of our housing crisis has continued to grow, resulting in unique local challenges. The emergency shelter system, the largest system in Canada, is operating beyond capacity. The city’s rental vacancy rate of 1.7% is extremely low and 40% of renter households in Toronto are spending more than 30% of their income on rent. The City itself is struggling with severe financial pressures because of pandemic impacts and an outdated funding model, which is inadequate to meet the demands of delivering the infrastructure required to support growth, and the ongoing funding of services.

Despite these challenges, the City, in collaboration with the federal and provincial governments, as well as partners from across sectors, made strong progress over the past 18 months to advance the HousingTO 2020-2030 Action Plan (HousingTO Plan) and improve housing outcomes for residents. This includes:

• completion of 1,082 net new affordable and supportive homes for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness (2022-June 2023);
• approval of 3,340 net new affordable rental homes (2022-June 2023);
• allocation of over 3,300 housing benefits through the Canada-Ontario Housing Benefit program to help people maintain their homes;
• allocation of $46 million in funding through the Multi-Unit Residential Acquisition (MURA) program in 2022 and 2023 for non-profit organizations to acquire and permanently secure approximately 260 affordable rental homes; and,
• launching a series of new digital dashboards to increase transparency and accountability, and publicly track the City's progress towards advancing the HousingTO Plan.

The City also made strong progress in advancing its commitment to take a rights-based approach to housing and strengthening the housing system. Toronto became the first municipality in Canada to establish a Deputy Ombudsman, Housing Unit, and a Housing Rights Council Advisory Body – both of which will be fully implemented in 2023. A new regulatory framework for Multi-Tenant Houses was adopted which, will introduce consistent standards, regulatory oversight, and enforcement to help protect the safety of lower-income renters and preserve this much-needed housing option.

Further, as part of the Expanding Housing Options in Neighbourhoods initiative, multiplexes were approved city-wide as a tool to scale up new housing supply more rapidly, increase housing choice and access, and create a more equitable and sustainable city. More recently, in recognition of the growing housing affordability challenges facing residents, in September 2023, City Council voted to increase the new affordable homes target in the HousingTO Plan to include a minimum of 7,500 affordable homes, of which a minimum 2,500 are new rent-geared-to-income homes; and to add a new target for 17,500 rent-controlled homes. Future HousingTO Plan annual updates to Council will reflect this increased target and the cost to deliver the additional homes.

While the City continues to make strong progress on some key targets, others require immediate attention. For instance, since 2020, a robust pipeline of purpose-built rental homes has been approved, including almost 15,000 affordable and deeply affordable homes. However, many of these projects are ‘stuck’ and unable to move into the construction and occupancy phases primarily due to lack of available federal and provincial grant funding and low-cost financing. Specific and targeted investments are also needed to increase housing opportunities for Indigenous and Black residents, people with disabilities, seniors, women and gender diverse households.

For the City to continue to advance the HousingTO Plan and achieve shared municipal-provincial-federal housing and growth targets, accelerated and enhanced investments in housing and new policy tools are urgently needed. These include: access to federal and provincial funding and financing to create new purpose-built rental supply, including new rent-geared-to-income (RGI) homes; increased funding for support services to create new supportive housing opportunities; additional allocations of the Canada-Ontario Housing Benefit, to help people maintain their current homes, or to move out of the shelter system; and a revised provincial funding model to create new long-term care beds to support the city’s aging population. It is critical that the City also be given the ability to implement new revenue tools that are reflective of its responsibilities and contributions to the economy.

Concurrently, targeted upstream interventions across systems and across governments are needed to address the root causes of poverty and housing precarity, including modernized social assistance rates that reflect the current cost of living, improved access to mental and physical health care, and increased access to education and employment opportunities, especially for vulnerable and marginalized communities.

In the absence of coordinated and sustained action across all orders of government, new and enhanced investments in housing, and new municipal funding tools, the City of Toronto, the Government of Ontario and the Government of Canada will be challenged to deliver the 'right' type of housing supply to meet the needs of current and future residents, advance their equity and climate goals, and support the economic growth of the region, province and country. 

This report was prepared by the Housing Secretariat with input from various City divisions and agencies including: Strategic Communications, Concept 2 Keys, City Planning, the City Manager's Office, Corporate Finance, Customer Experience, Corporate Real Estate Management, CreateTO, Environment and Energy, Financial Planning, the Indigenous Affairs Office, the Office of Strategic Partnerships, Legal Services, Municipal Licensing and Standards, Revenue Services, Seniors Services and Long-Term Care, Shelter, Support and Housing Administration, Social Development and Finance Administration, Toronto Building, and Toronto Community Housing Corporation.