Fixing a ‘quiet crisis’
Having an affordable place to live can be a decisive factor in freeing people from poverty. Simply liberating someone from the burden of crushing rent can make a profound difference in the quality of their life.
That’s what makes Toronto’s staggering lack of affordable housing such a disgrace. And why a new action plan announced by Mayor John Tory holds real promise.
More than 93,500 households, or about171,000 people, were stuck on a waiting list for social housing just this summer. Many will languish there, unseen and unheard, for years. This has been called a “quiet crisis” for good reason.
In 2010 Toronto set itself a decade-long goal of building 1,000 new affordable homes annually. That means there should be 5,000 in place by end of this year — but fewer than 2,850 will have actually been built.
“This is not acceptable,” Tory quite rightly told reporters on Thursday. “The days of city hall taking months and years and decades only, half the time, to find ways to say no must come to an end, especially as regards affordable housing.”
To finally get this sector moving, he announced a welcome plan to fast-track low-income housing proposals; slash municipal red tape tangling these projects; provide financial incentives to developers; and use surplus city-owned land to help build new affordable units.
To underline his point, Tory made the announcement in a desolate industrial brown-field, near Fort York Blvd. and Bathurst St., which the city zoned for affordable housing 20 years ago. A request for proposals to finally develop that tract will go out early next year, and four other similar sites have also been identified.
Together, those properties are expected to provide Toronto with 389 new affordable homes. The city is also set to release an inventory of 13 other sites with affordable housing potential.
In addition to the lure of accessing city-owned land, developers willing to provide housing for the poor are being tempted with a waiving of certain permit fees and deferred development charges.
The goal is to “say yes to developers who want to work with us and get the job done in half the time,” Tory said.
City staff are to provide an update on the mayor’s “Open Door” program next May, but the approach appears headed in the right direction. The plan also involves pressing Ottawa and Queen’s Park to do more, including releasing surplus federal and provincial lands for low income housing.
It’s vital that senior governments take part. A great many people’s lives can be significantly improved simply by giving them affordable shelter. Even with the best of intentions — and incentives — there’s a limit to what Toronto can do on its own.
Toronto Mayor John Tory’s fast-track construction plan deserves strong support