Housing Data

Achieving 65,000 Rent-Controlled Homes
This section contains data on the City of Toronto’s target to approve 65,000 rent-controlled homes, including 41,000 affordable and 6,500 rent-geared-to-income (RGI) homes.

An approved home is one that has either received approval from City Council for financial incentives through a City housing program (e.g., Open Door, Housing Now, etc.) or as part of a development application (e.g., Section 37 density bonusing regulation, Community Benefits Charge, etc.).

The affordable rental homes counted towards the target are ones that meet the City’s current definition for affordable rental housing. RGI homes are affordable homes offered to tenants at either no more than 30% of their adjusted new family income, or with rent not exceeding 40% of AMR.

This section contains information on the existing social housing units under the City’s administration and on the Centralized Waiting List (CWL) for households applying for Rent-Geared-to-Income (RGI) housing in Toronto.

Social housing, including RGI housing for eligible households, is administered by the City. Social housing is typically intended for low-and moderate-income households who cannot afford affordable rental housing or affordable ownership housing. In most cases, RGI is 30 per cent of a household’s monthly Adjusted Family Net Income (AFNI). These units are filled from the CWL through MyAccesstoHousingTO, the City’s online application portal for households applying for or managing their application for RGI housing.

Go to the City’s Open Data Portal to download Social Housing data.

This section includes information on existing affordable rental housing that is under the City’s administration, as well as on the demolition and replacement of rental homes in non-profit and private developments requiring approval by the City.

This dataset includes Rental Housing Demolition and Conversion applications with six or more existing rental units that were approved by Toronto City Council since January 1, 2017.

Go to the City’s Open Data Portal to download Affordable Rental Housing Stock and Demolition and Replacement data.

• Affordable Rental Housing: Rental homes under the City’s administration with monthly rent, including utilities, at or below 100 per cent of Average Market Rent (AMR). Average Market Rent is published annually by the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). Learn more about AMR.

Patricia is a retired insurance broker on a fixed income who rents a one-bedroom affordable home in Toronto. Affordable rental homes are rented at or below 100% Average Market Rent (AMR), with many homes set at 80 per cent AMR. For 2023, this means rent for an affordable one-bedroom is a maximum of $1,538 per month. Patricia pays 80 per cent AMR, meaning her rent is $1230/month.

• Demolition and Replacement of Rental Homes: Chapter 667 of the Toronto Municipal Code and the City of Toronto’s Official Plan requires replacement rental housing where new development would result in the loss of 6 or more existing rental units. Replaced units are comparable in terms of bedroom type, size, and affordability.
• Social Housing: Social housing refers to housing built under federal, federal/provincial, or provincial government programs and is designed to provide housing for households in core housing need. It includes public housing as well as non‐profit and co‐op housing. It is either owned or operated by a government or non‐profit organization.

Kamal worked as a plumber before he was injured at work. Due to the injury, Kamal lost his employment income and his home, and then moved into a shelter. Now, Kamal receives income support through the Ontario Disability Support Program. He now lives in Rent-Geared-to-Income (RGI) housing where he pays a portion of his benefit towards rent, allowing him to live in Toronto without spending his entire income on housing.

• Supportive Housing: Combines subsidized/RGI or affordable rental housing with individualized wrap-around social and health supports to help people live independently. Supportive housing is important to address the needs of a range of vulnerable and marginalized residents including those experiencing homelessness, people with disabilities (including physical and developmental) and seniors. Supportive housing is also an important component of the housing continuum and has been a focus for the City and the community housing sector in ensuring experiences of homelessness are rare, brief and non-recurring.

Social Housing

Social Housing Inventory

• Social Housing: Housing, including Rent-Geared-to-Income (RGI), which is administered by the City of Toronto. In most cases, RGI rent is 30 per cent of a household’s monthly Adjusted Family Net Income. Social housing is provided by various types of housing organizations, including the City’s housing corporations (Toronto Community Housing Corporation and Toronto Seniors Housing Corporation), and not-for-profit and co-op social housing providers. In addition, commercial rent supplements enable RGI-level housing through subsidized private landlords.

Centralized Waiting List

• Application Activity: the status of all applications on the Centralized Waiting List for RGI housing for each quarter. Examples of statuses are applications that are actively waiting, currently housed and inactive.
• Co-op/Private Non-Profit/Rent Supplement: any social housing provider that is not a part of TCHC/TSHC.
• Housed by Housing Provider: the type of housing provider managing the unit that the applicant received from the Centralized Waiting List for RGI housing, for example, TCHC, TSHC, co-op, or non-profit housing providers.
• Housed: these applicants have been housed from the Centralized Waiting List for RGI housing and will no longer be active in the next quarter.
• Inactive/Cancelled: these applications from the Centralized Waiting List for RGI housing are no longer active and will be removed in the next quarter.
• New/Reactivated: the number of active applications from the Centralized Waiting List for RGI housing that are added to the waitlist for the quarter, whether they are brand new applicants, or are applicants that were previously inactive but have since reactivated their file.
• Total Active Applications: For applications on the Centralized Waiting List for RGI housing that are active during the quarter, this breaks down households with or without dependents on file (children under age 18, adults with physical or mental disabilities that prevent them from living independently or who are living with their parents/legal guardians and are full-time students), and households for which the main applicant is 65 years of age or older and would qualify for senior housing units when available on the waiting list.
• Households Housed by Unit Size: for the applicants on the Centralized Waiting List for RGI housing that were housed in each quarter, this dataset shows the bedroom size of the tenants’ unit. The size of the unit (for example, number of bedrooms) assigned to a household is dependent on the number of individuals in the household, including the number of children.
• Housed by Applicant Category: applicants from the Centralized Waiting List for RGI housing may be assigned a specific category for administrative purposes. This dataset shows how many households have a “housed” status and what category the head of household falls under (see categories below).
• Centralized Waiting List Access Priorities
  • There are a few groups of applicants who are prioritized for housing. These groups, ranked in order of priority, are:
    • Survivors of family/domestic abuse and human trafficking
    • Terminally ill applicants who have less than two years to live
    • Tenants already living in subsidized units that are Overhoused, occupying a larger unit than required according to Local Occupancy Standards, and need to move to a smaller unit
    • Indigenous People: where every tenth RGI vacancy is filled by an Indigenous household
    • Households Exiting Permanent Supportive Housing: tenants living in a rent-geared-to-income unit administered by the City as Service Manager receiving housing supports that are not capable of living independent of the support services.
  • There are also local priority access rules for the following:
    • applicants experiencing homelessness
    • youth who are 16 or 17 years old at the time of applying for Rent-Geared-to-Income housing and who are heads of household

• General Waiting List: households on the Centralized Waiting List for RGI assistance that do not fall into any of the above categories and are prioritized based on the date of their application and the number of bedrooms they qualify for based on Local Occupancy Standards.
• Toronto Community Housing Corporation (TCHC): social housing homes managed by TCHC for whom the City of Toronto is the Sole Shareholder
• Toronto Senior Housing Corporation (TSHC): Social housing homes for seniors managed by TSHC for whom the City of Toronto is Sole Shareholder

Affordable Housing Pipeline & Map

Dashboard/Map

• Address: Includes the municipal address(es) of the building/complex where the affordable units will be built. There can be multiple addresses listed in this field. For large scale projects, it includes the name of the neighbourhood or the project name, as well as the phase(s) if applicable / known at the date of the last update of the dataset.
• Affordable rental homes: rental units where the total monthly shelter cost (gross monthly rent including utilities – heat, hydro and hot water – but excluding parking and cable television charges) is at or below one times the average City of Toronto rent, by unit type (number of bedrooms), as reported annually by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (City’s Official Plan, Sec 3.2.1).
• Approved: Affordable rental homes that have received an approval from City Council, either as an initial approval for financial incentives through a City housing program (for example, Open Door, Housing Now), or as part of a development application since January 1, 2017.
• Completed: Affordable rental homes approved since January 1, 2017, which have been built and that are ready for occupancy. The date the first occupancy permit for a development is issued is used to determine that a project is “completed”.
• Number of affordable rental homes: The total current number of affordable rental homes approved by City Council, either for financial incentives or as part of a development’s first planning approval. The number of affordable rental homes is subject to change through the development process. As a result, sometimes there is a difference between the number of units initially approved and the number of units that are ultimately built.
• Pre-construction: Affordable rental homes approved since January 1, 2017 that are in the pre-construction stages of development. Some of these are being reviewed under the City’s development approval process while others are in the planning/pre- development application stages with private or non-profit developers.
• Under Construction: Affordable rental homes approved since January 1, 2017 where a building permit has been issued by Toronto Building and projects are assumed to be under construction.
• Ward: Current municipal ward where the project is located. Read more information on Wards.

Affordable Rental Housing Stock

• Affordable Rental Housing: rental units where the total monthly rent (gross monthly rent including utilities – heat, hydro and hot water – but excluding parking and cable television charges) is at or below one times the average City of Toronto rent, by unit type (number of bedrooms), as reported annually by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (City’s Official Plan, Sec 3.2.1).
• Date of Issuance: the date on which one of the following occurs, as applicable: Issuance of First Demolition Permit (for demolition), Condominium Registration Date (for conversion to condominium), or Certificate of Official Date (for severance).
• High-End Rental Housing: rental units where the total monthly rent exceeds one and one-half times the average City of Toronto rent, by unit type, as reported annually by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (City’s Official Plan definition).
• Mid-Range Rental Housing: rental units where the total monthly rent exceeds affordable rent (per the above definition) but fall below one and one-half times the average City of Toronto rent, by unit type, as reported annually by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (City’s Official Plan definition).
• Type: for sites containing 6 or more existing rental dwelling units, indicates if the application is for demolition or conversion (condominium conversion or severance), and if the application affects social housing units.
• Demolition: The removal of all or part of a building, including interior renovations or alterations, that results in a change to the number of dwelling units or dwelling units by bedroom type.
• Conversion: the severance of land containing 6 or more rental units where the resulting parcels contain fewer than 6 rental units, conversion of rental housing to a non-residential use, or conversion of rental housing to a non-rental residential use (for example, condominium ownership)