Toronto housing plan needs more fed, provincial funding: report

Toronto has been making progress on its housing targets, but according to an update on the city's two affordable housing plans, it likely won't be able to stay on track without significant help from other levels of government.

On Thursday, the city released its annual report outlining its progress on the Housing Action Plan and the HousingTO Plan, which are intended to help over 300,000 households deal with housing issues between 2020 and 2030. 

The city exceeded its housing target for 2023 by 51 per cent, but the report found funding gaps could prevent the city from meeting future annual targets.

"While progress is being made, what this report also highlights is how much more progress can and must be made," Abi Bond, executive director of the city's Housing Secretariat, said in the report. 

"There remains a critical need for federal and provincial governments to act urgently and invest directly in policies and programs that have a strong and successful track record."

Specifically, the report found additional funding is needed to create new housing that will support the city's "rapid growth."

To do that, the report found the city requires $500 to $800 million per year in grant funding and an allocation of $6.5 billion to $8 billion in low cost financing and loans from both the province and the federal government.

Last year, the city increased its targets for new housing supply from 40,000 to 65,000 rent-controlled homes, including 6,500 rent-geared-to-income (RGI), 41,000 affordable rental and 17,500 rent-controlled market units by 2030.

But the rate of housing starts and completions aren't keeping pace with the rate of approvals, this year's annual report found.

Coun. Gord Perks, chair of the city's planning and housing committee, says the city is "pulling out all the stops" but can only go so far.

"If they don't come to the table," Perks said of the federal and provincial governments, "we will never get out of the housing affordability crisis for people with low incomes, but also for people with middle incomes."

He points to public lands the city is turning into affordable housing. Currently, he says, the city has five such projects underway and another dozen expected to start in the next 18 months.

"There are another 70 sites we've identified that we could do if we had a funding partner," Perks said.

Province, feds have already invested hundreds of millions

The federal and provincial governments have already committed hundreds of millions of dollars toward housing in Toronto.

The province gave Toronto $114 million earlier this year for surpassing its 2023 target of 20,900 housing starts.

At the federal level, Ottawa has provided just over $600 million through the housing accelerator fund and rapid housing initiative for the creation of about 1,500 new homes.

Perks said the federal government should also set money aside for Toronto specifically, so the city doesn't have to compete with other municipalities for national funding.

In an email, spokesperson Sofia Ouslis said Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada has invested $5 billion since 2015 to build, repair and subsidize over 100,000 homes in Toronto.

"We work closely with Toronto to understand the city's needs when it comes to housing, and Minister (Sean) Fraser has had several productive meetings with Mayor (Olivia) Chow since his appointment last year," she said in an email.

CBC Toronto also reached out to the province for comment but did not receive a response before publication.

Delays could impact affordability, says analyst

Regardless of how the city works to stay on pace, Jason Mercer, chief market analyst with the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board, says delays to housing completion will likely hinder affordability and negate any progress already made — especially as the city continues to grow.

"If we don't see any more supply coming online, we're going to absorb that inventory, and we're going to see really tight market conditions again," he said. "That's going to lead to strong upward pressure on prices."

Mercer says one area the city should focus on, aside from finding more funding, is to streamline the bureaucratic process of housing development to ensure houses come online faster.