Toronto’s Affordable Housing Strategy

By: Afraz Bakhtiar

The following article discusses the initiatives the city and province can take to achieve their housing target. This will include topics like inclusionary zoning and as-of-right zoning which will greatly improve Toronto’s housing density. This article will also consider challenges to implement these changes like “nimbyism”, and how they can be effectively mitigated.

To combat housing unaffordability in the City of Toronto (the City), the federal government has introduced a host of new policy options which the city can consider. The “More Homes Built Faster Act” (2022) is a recent piece of legislation that aims to deal with housing unaffordability across Ontario. The provincial government aims to build 40,000 new units by 2030, mostly located in the City, to address the supply shortage which currently exists in Toronto’s housing market (The More Homes Built Faster Act, 2022). There are several new policies that the new law allows municipal governments like the City to implement, which can be effectively used to integrate the predicted influx of climate migrants. Two of the best policies which the City should look to implement as quickly as possible are “inclusionary zoning” which builds mixed-income developments in major transportation areas and “as-of-right zoning” which allows redevelopment of areas in the City that is restricted to single-family dwellings. The Bill also introduces policies which would be undesirable for increasing housing affordability such as the opening up of the green belt. This section of the report will analyze why the City should prioritize inclusionary zoning and as-of-right zoning to deal with the current housing crisis.

There are two policies the city should look to implement as quickly as possible; inclusionary zoning and “as-of-right” zoning. These are the new policy options which have the greatest benefits when tackling the affordability and sustainability crisis existing in the City.

Inclusionary Zoning

The biggest benefit of inclusionary zoning is that it targets new housing developments around major transportation areas. Inclusionary zoning is restricted to Protected Major Transit Stations Areas (PMTSAs) which are a subset of Major Transit Stations Areas (MTSAs). MTSAs are defined as areas within 500 to 800 meters of a major transit station, and the objective of the current amendment is to increase affordable housing close to these transit stations. For an MTSA to become a PMTSA, it must be approved by the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing (Bill-23, 2022). A portion of the new developments in inclusionary zones must be reserved for affordable housing. Currently, Bill-23 requires 5–10% of the new housing developments in these zones to be reserved.

Building close to MTSA areas would be highly beneficial to both the household and the environment as well (Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario, 2021). For the household, this is a reduction in transportation costs as access to transportation services means they would not need to purchase automobiles. Increased use of the transit system, away from automobile use, will greatly reduce carbon emissions in the city — a key step towards sustainability. It also works strongly with the city’s other policy initiatives such as the “15-minute city”. This initiative calls for the expansion of the transit system, and inclusionary zoning would be an excellent way to build affordable housing around these new transportation areas.

The second benefit of inclusionary zoning is that the portion reserved for affordable housing will create areas of mixed-income. There are several benefits of mixed-income such as promoting economic and social diversity, increasing social inclusion, reducing concentrated poverty, and increasing opportunities for low-income Torontonians in areas they previously would not have had access to.

“As-of-Right” Zoning

In addition to inclusionary zoning, the second policy option which should be implemented is “as-of-right” zoning as it combats the “missing middle”. The term “missing middle” refers to the gap in the availability of housing which falls between single-family units and high-rise buildings (Clayton, 2019). Many families in the city are priced out of the single-family units and may not want to live in the high-rise buildings. Therefore, the presence of more mid-rise buildings can address the current supply shortage which exists in the market. “As of right” zoning will address the “missing middle” by eliminating the existing barriers which prevent development in zones restricted to single-family dwellings. Therefore, it addresses the housing shortage and diversifies the housing options Torontonians may choose from. Therefore, a combination of inclusionary zoning and “as-of-right” zoning would be an excellent way to make Toronto’s housing market more affordable and sustainable.

Prevent the Development of the “Green Belt”

The following two policies should be prioritized before the development of the “green belt”. Bill-23 also opens up the option to build in the province’s “green belt” however, this is an option which would not be sustainable for the city in the long run (Allen, 2022). Developing in the Green Belt can lead to a “rural sprawl” where transportation to the city will heavily rely on automobiles — a threat to sustainable housing. The Bill will also allow for development in areas which are ‘wetlands’ which will negatively affect wetland habitats and conservation areas across the city. The bill prevents conservation authorities from using their powers to refuse construction permits which can put the city’s ecosystems in jeopardy. Furthermore, unlike the other policy options, the new homes will not be reserved for affordable housing. Instead, many commentators believe these new developments will be large single-family dwellings for wealthier Canadians (Allen, 2022). Policies of this sort question the intentions of the current Bill; is it to make housing more affordable or is it to help wealthier Canadians buy these large new homes? What is clear is that there are policy options which will address the current supply shortage in a sustainable manner but, there are also policy options which must be met with strong resistance.

Implementation Challenges and Mitigations

• Lower profitability for developers: Inclusionary zoning is an excellent way to increase the housing supply near major transport areas; however, the major challenge of inclusionary zoning is that it is not as profitable for developers to build affordable housing. If the units which the developers build are left to the private market, they can likely sell them for a higher market price which will greatly increase their profits. Therefore, public incentives and support to improve affordable housing developments are necessary to engage developers.
• Nimbyism (not in my backyarders): While “as-of-right” zoning targets the “missing middle” by redeveloping areas reserved for single-family dwellings however, a key challenge in the implementation of this policy option is the political resistance of “Nimbyism” (Fischel, 2021). Nimbyism, or “not in my backyarders” are people who live in communities that do not want to see change and redevelopment at their doorstep even if they recognize the benefits new developments can have. Implementing “as-of-right” zoning would likely be met with a great deal of political resistance which must be mitigated. There are two key sets of mitigation strategies to prevent nimbyism from being a barrier to the redevelopment of these single-family dwelling zones.
• The first set of mitigation strategies focuses on community engagement and outreach. Engaging with the community allows the city to ensure their voices and concerns are heard. It also allows for ongoing communication and feedback over the duration of the development projects.