Members of Council and Staff:  Please keep this agenda and the accompanying material until the City Council meeting dealing with these matters has ended.  The City Clerk’s Office will not provide additional copies.

Special Assistance for Members of the Public: City staff can arrange for special assistance with some advance notice.  If you need special assistance, please call 416-392-4365, TTY 416-338-0889 or e-mail ah@toronto.ca.

Closed Meeting Requirements: If the Affordable Housing Committee wants to meet in closed session (privately), a member of the committee must make a motion to do so and give the reason why the Committee has to meet privately. (City of Toronto Act, 2006)

Notice to people writing or making presentations to the Affordable Housing Committee:  The City of Toronto Act, 2006 and the City of Toronto Municipal Code authorize the City of Toronto to collect any personal information in your communication or presentation to City Council or its committees.

The City collects this information to enable it to make informed decisions on the relevant issue(s). If you are submitting letters, faxes, e-mails, presentations or other communications to the City, you should be aware that your name and the fact that you communicated with the City will become part of the public record and will appear on the City’s website.  The City will also make your communication and any personal information in it – such as your postal address, telephone number or e-mail address – available to the public, unless you expressly request the City to remove it.

The City videotapes committee and community council meetings.  If you make a presentation to a committee or community council, the City will be videotaping you and City staff may make the video tapes available to the public.

If you want to learn more about why and how the City collects your information, write to the City Clerk's Office, City Hall, 100 Queen Street West, Toronto ON M5H 2N2 or by calling 416-397-7769.

Declarations of Interest under the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act.

Confirmation of Minutes - October 20, 2009

Speakers/Presentations - A complete list will be distributed at the meeting.

Communications/Reports

1.         That Council request the Chair of the Affordable Housing Committee write the Minister of Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing and acknowledge the support of the provincial government in approving Council recommended affordable housing developments; and,

2.         That Council request the Chair of the Affordable Housing Committee also urge the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing to approve any Council recommended affordable housing developments that are as yet unfunded in year two of the economic stimulus Affordable Housing Program initiative.

3.         That the 2010 Recommended Operating Budget for Shelter, Support and Housing Administration be adjusted to include the funding for the development loans/grants for the projects identified in this report; and

4.         That the 2010 Recommended Operating Budget for Shelter, Support and Housing Administration be adjusted to include the funding for the loans from the Home Ownership Program identified in this report.

At its meeting of September 30 and October 1, 2009, Council requested that the Director, Affordable Housing Office, report back to the Budget Committee and the Affordable Housing Committee on which Council-approved economic stimulus affordable housing developments had been recommended for funding by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, while also including current year and future year budget implications.

The budget implications reported here reflect Council approval of affordable housing developments recommended in May and September 2009.

This report provides an update on the seven developments, totalling 998 homes, which have now received a funding commitment from the province in the amount of $120,148,000.00.  This is the total funding commitment at the time this report was written. However the province will make further year two economic stimulus funding commitments in April, 2010.

The report also recommends that the Chair, Affordable Housing Committee, write the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, urging the province to fund the remaining Council-recommended proposals that are yet to be approved.  As of March 24, 2010, three Council recommended proposals were unfunded for a total of 606 rental homes.

This report also provides a brief update on 120 Affordable Housing Program loans that will assist low-income households to become home-owners.

While Council has already recommended the approval of the projects identified in the following table at its meetings of May 25-27, and September 30, and October 1 2009, the detailed financial impacts described to build 912 affordable housing units in the following table are discussed below.

Federal and Provincial funding of $120,148,000.00 million is available under the Canada-Ontario Affordable Housing Program 2009 Extension. This report recommends the City administer the projects for term ranging from 25 to 50 years. Contributions from the City include the waiver of development fees and fees of $6,036,802.00.

Property tax exemptions are calculated at a net present value for the period of the Contribution Agreement between the City and the proponent of each development and total $10,793,787.00.

The 120 new loans for homeowners will be allocated by the City from $6,625,000.00 in funding from the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing. The 2010 Recommended Operating Budget for Shelter Support and Housing Administration will be adjusted to include the funding for the loans from the Home Ownership Program.

The Deputy City Manager and Chief Financial Officer has reviewed this report and agrees with the financial impact information.

The Deputy City Manager responsible for the Affordable Housing Office recommends:

1.         City Council adopt a policy of supporting assisted home ownership with grants funded by the Development Charges Reserve Account (2009) for Subsidized Housing (account number XR 2116), provided the housing is developed by not-for-profit corporations and eligible purchaser households have incomes meeting the definition of ownership affordability in the Provincial Policy Statement (under the Planning Act);

2.         All assistance to non-profit development proponents under this policy be provided pursuant to a selection process as set out in this report and be subject to specific Council approval for each project; and

3.         The Deputy City Manager responsible for the Affordable Housing Office establish an approach to oversee monitoring and implementation, and report annually to the Affordable Housing Committee on the performance and requirements of not-for-profit corporations receiving grants under the policy.

This report proposes standardizing the City’s approach to supporting assisted home ownership by establishing a policy governing grants funded from the City’s Development Charges Reserve Account (2009) for Subsidized Housing (account number XR 2116).

The recommendations of this report are broadly consistent with an implementation action supporting affordable home ownership initiatives in the City’s 10-year Housing Opportunities Toronto plan.  City grants for non-profit home ownership developments targeting low-to-moderate income purchasers would reduce upfront development costs and complement down-payment assistance provided to eligible purchasers through the Canada-Ontario Affordable Housing Program, and other related city and federal/ provincial incentives.

The recommendations also respond to requests from non-profit ownership proponents, such as Habitat for Humanity, Home Ownership Alternatives and Toronto Community Housing, to reduce the costs associated with development and standardize the City’s assistance for new affordable/assisted ownership homes.

City grants for new assisted home ownership initiatives by non-profit proponents will be recommended to Council on a project-by-project basis.  The non-profit proponents will translate the City grant into multiple individual loans to eligible purchaser households.

Based on an estimated average grant of $10,000.00 per home it is anticipated that some 200 households would be assisted annually with a financial impact of $2 million in grant funding from the Development Charges Reserve Account for (2009) Subsidized Housing.

The Deputy City Manager and Chief Financial Officer has reviewed this report and agrees with the financial impact information.

The Deputy City Manager responsible for the Affordable Housing Office recommends that:

1.         In order to increase access for low-income homeowners, Council urge Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation to adopt a mechanism to annually update House Value Thresholds in Toronto to better reflect market conditions in Toronto.

2.         Council request Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation to work with the Director, Affordable Housing Office, the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation and the Toronto Real Estate Board to develop updated House Value Thresholds.

This report responds to a request from the Chair of the Affordable Housing Committee, Councillor Mammoliti, to summarize the demographics of Residential Rehabilitation Assistance Program (RRAP) clients; to outline what the City has done to address RRAP house value limits; and to discuss a protocol for Councillors to assist in RRAP applications.

RRAP has helped repair and create more than 9,000 homes in Toronto over the past decade.  Housing Opportunities Toronto (HOT), the City’s ten-year affordable housing plan, calls on the federal government to expand RRAP and other initiatives that support renovation and energy retrofits.

Limits on incomes, house values and rents, set by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), ensure RRAP is available to existing low-and moderate-income households in lower-cost housing. Seniors and low-income families are the most common beneficiaries of RRAP.  In effect, the lowest-income quarter of Toronto homeowners and the lowest-income half of tenants are eligible for RRAP. 

“House Value Thresholds” (HVT), i.e. price ceilings, are set by CMHC in three zones that cover the city and are currently $300,000.00, $350,000.00 and $400,000.00.  However, the average house price in about half of Toronto’s wards exceeds these levels. The 2009 median house value was $406,045.00, a 5.5% increase from $384,992.00 in 2007.

Therefore, the City should request an increase in the HVTs to reflect Toronto’s higher home prices. This request is based on CMHC’s commitment to renew RRAP through 2014.

With regards to the existing RRAP communications protocol, once CMHC confirms the annual funding amount the Director of the Affordable Housing Office (AHO) advises Councillors in writing. Councillors refer interested constituents to RRAP staff in the AHO, who provide information and assistance with the application and monitor the repair process.

This report has no financial impact.

The Deputy City Manager and Chief Financial Officer has reviewed this report and agrees with the financial impact information.

This report responds to a request from the October 20, 2009 meeting of the Affordable Housing Committee that the City of Toronto create an awards program to honour the work of its partners in the field of affordable housing. The committee was acting on a recommendation from the Chair, Councillor Mammoliti, contained in an October 5, 2009 letter.

This report outlines a recognition event to be held at the June 3, 2010 meeting of the Affordable Housing Committee for proponents currently involved in the creation of affordable rental and ownership housing. The event will honour 16 proponents responsible for the construction of some 2,500 new affordable homes in 2010.

It also outlines a permanent awards program beginning in 2011 that will be a central part of the City’s participation in the United Nations’ World Habitat Day, which occurs on the first Monday of October each year. The awards will be presented for excellence and innovation in such areas as financing, environmental impact, service provision and conversion to affordable housing.

This report has no financial impact beyond what has already been approved in the current year’s budget.

The Deputy City Manager and Chief Financial Officer has reviewed this report and agrees with the financial impact information.

Requesting support for recommendations to implement the intent of the Council approved settlement offer for 150 Sudbury Street concerning a waiver of property taxes for affordable housing developed at this location.

Forwarding key recommendations from their report "In From the Margins: A Call to Action on Poverty, Housing and Homelessness" and requesting support for their ongoing process of engagement to ensure that poverty, housing and homelessness issues continue to get public and political attention.

News Release on the poster campaign promoting "Housing as a human right".

Providing an update and extending thanks to all stakeholders on consultations held with respect to the development of Ontario's Long-Term Affordable Housing Strategy.

Advising that the Affordable Housing Office and Shelter, Support and Housing Administration staff are working on the report with stakeholders.