Item - 2025.EC25.4

The Economic and Community Development Committee recommends that:

1. City Council adopt the Mount Dennis Community for All Action Plan, included in Attachment 1 to the report (November 18, 2025) from the Executive Director, Housing Secretariat, the Executive Director, Social Development, the Executive Director, Development Review, the Executive Director, City Planning, the General Manager, Parks and Recreation, and the General Manager, Economic Development, as the community development plan in accordance with Policies 12.4 and 12.5 of the Mount Dennis Secondary Plan.

2. City Council request the Executive Director, Social Development and the Executive Director, Housing Secretariat to establish and lead a collaborative, interdivisional working group to be accountable for implementing the Mount Dennis Community for All Action Plan over a 10 year period, with representation from Development Review, City Planning, Economic Development and Culture, Parks and Recreation, and other relevant divisions identified during implementation.

3. City Council request the interdivisional working group to implement and monitor the Mount Dennis Community for All Action Plan for a period of 10 years, including working with community partners and groups to design and implement a monitoring and evaluation framework and to provide regular reports to the Mount Dennis community and bi-annual reports to City Council.

4. City Council authorize the Executive Director, Social Development to negotiate and execute any necessary agreements with The Learning Enrichment Foundation to develop and deliver an equity scorecard for the Mount Dennis Community for All Action Plan, on terms and conditions satisfactory to the Executive Director, Social Development, and in a form satisfactory to the City Solicitor; and to report back by the first quarter of 2027 with a final equity scorecard for City Council approval.

5. City Council authorize the Executive Director, Social Development to negotiate and execute any necessary agreements with The Learning Enrichment Foundation to administer a grant program focused on supporting anti-displacement education initiatives in the Mount Dennis area, on terms and conditions satisfactory to the Executive Director, Social Development, and in a form satisfactory to the City Solicitor.

6. City Council request the Executive Director, Housing Secretariat to establish a community of practice for community land trusts to support capacity-building, with support from the Economic Development and Culture Division.

7. City Council request the Executive Director, Housing Secretariat to include a priority consideration for projects in transit-oriented communities in housing development and acquisition policies and programs.

8. City Council direct the General Manager, Economic Development and Culture to work with the Mount Dennis Business Improvement Area to ensure that local businesses and entrepreneurs can access a range of City of Toronto small business programs.

9. City Council request the Executive Director, Housing Secretariat to promote access to renter-focused legal, advocacy, and educational programs for residents of Mount Dennis.

10. City Council request that the General Manager, Parks and Recreation engage community stakeholders and City divisions to start the process of renewed community access, programming, and use of the Mount Dennis Community Hall for residents of Mount Dennis.

11. City Council request the Executive Director, Housing Secretariat, the Executive Director, Social Development, the Executive Director, Development Review, the Executive Director, Parks and Recreation, and the General Manager, Economic Development and Culture to report through future budget processes over the 10-year life span of the action plan on the resources, staff and program operations required to ensure delivery of the action plan and ongoing engagement and capacity-building of residents, with a priority focus on Indigenous, Black and equity-deserving groups and inclusive of grassroots groups, youth groups, community organizations and local businesses.

12. City Council request the Executive Director, Housing Secretariat, the Executive Director, Social Development, the Executive Director, Development Review, the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning, the General Manager, Parks and Recreation, and the General Manager, Economic Development and Culture work in partnership with the local community to advocate for positive investments needed from federal and provincial governments.

The Manager, Renters Strategy Unit, Housing Secretariat, and the Manager, Community Development, Social Development gave a presentation on the Mount Dennis Community For All Action Plan.

The Mount Dennis community is a neighbourhood that is undergoing transformation. New development and transit investments will soon make the Mount Dennis area one of the most transit accessible locations in the city. Currently, Mount Dennis is among the few Toronto communities where families and individuals can secure affordable housing. It has also historically been an affordable and diverse neighbourhood for a diverse population and is home to many new immigrants, Black residents, low-income households, vulnerable seniors, and youth.

The increased development and transit investments will bring much needed connectivity and housing supply to the city, but may also bring pressures of displacement, increasing housing costs, and physical, social, and economic changes that will impact current Mount Dennis residents. Without targeted and system-wide strategies and supports, residents of historically underinvested neighbourhoods, such as Mount Dennis, face greater risk of disruption and harm from rising development pressure. As such, there is a need for the City to introduce measures to guide growth in ways that benefit current and future Mount Dennis residents.

City Council adopted the Mount Dennis Secondary Plan in July 2022, as a result of the Picture Mount Dennis Planning Framework Study completed in 2022. City Council also directed staff to establish a community development plan using an anti-displacement lens and to require future development applications to respond to its City Council-adopted recommendations. The community development plan is also intended to support implementation of the policies of the Mount Dennis Secondary Plan and also introduce anti-displacement measures for the Mount Dennis community.

This report responds to Council's requests and recommends Council adopt the Mount Dennis Community for All Action Plan (the Action Plan) proposed in this report as the community development plan. This report also recommends that Council request staff to establish a City of Toronto interdivisional working group to implement immediate and longer-term measures introduced in the Action Plan. The development of the Action Plan is a community-led and community-focused process that reflects the voices of Mount Dennis residents.

The City has worked closely with the Learning Enrichment Foundation (LEF), a community agency in Mount Dennis, to support community engagement in development of the action plan. The City provided funding of $50,000 to LEF for the delivery of the People’s Summit focused on anti-displacement strategies and priorities for the Action Plan. LEF contracted Untitled Planning to assist with the design and implementation of the summit and completion of a final report on the summit activities and findings. LEF also convened a stakeholder working group to collaborate on the design of the People's Summit and co-development of recommendations.

The Action Plan (Attachment 1) introduces a number of actions that are aimed at:

- Preserving housing and commercial affordability, including the launch of a community-led land trust and development of an equity scorecard to measure the impact of development on the community;

- Promoting anti-displacement measures for businesses and residents, including the establishment of a community-led Anti-Displacement Education Fund, with investments from the City to support anti-displacement initiatives led by community groups and non-profits;

- Enhancing public spaces for community use, including initiating the return of the Mount Dennis Community Hall to community; and

- Establishing a pro-active strategy to implement and monitor the delivery of the Mount Dennis Community for All Action Plan, including the establishment of a Mount Dennis community partnership table and engagement with Indigenous and Black communities.  

In addition, the report recommends the establishment of a collaborative framework between the City of Toronto and the Mount Dennis community to deliver the action plan for the residents of Mount Dennis over the next ten years.

This report and the Action Plan have been developed in consultation with the Action Plan interdivisional working group members from Social Development, Economic Development & Culture, City Planning, Development Review, and Parks & Recreation, in addition to consultation with Transportation Services and the Indigenous Affairs Office.