The City of Toronto has developed an Academic Housing Strategy to address the housing needs of students at Post-Secondary Institutions in Toronto. The strategy was adopted by City Council on April 24, 2025 through PH20.7.
Finding and securing affordable housing in Toronto is becoming more challenging each year for students at our academic institutions.
To help understand the current housing needs of post-secondary Toronto students and develop meaningful solutions, the City has developed an Academic Housing. This strategy supports the goals of the HousingTO 2020-2030 Action Plan and the Housing Action Plan (2022-2026).
The City of Toronto engaged with the academic community across the city between September 2024 and January 2025. This engagement work was undertaken to better understand the housing experiences and needs of those studying and working in Toronto’s academic institutions and was integral to informing the development of the City’s Academic Housing Strategy.
To ensure the Academic Housing Strategy was informed by the experiences and needs of students, faculty and staff across the city, The City of Toronto led a variety of engagement activities including an Academic Housing Survey, campus drop-in sessions across all of Toronto’s publicly funded academic institutions, key informant interviews, as well as self-guided small group discussions (‘Consultation in a Box’) and virtual focus groups. A copy of the Consultation Summary and Key Findings is available here.
Engage students, faculty, staff and academic housing experts to inform plan.
Draft the Academic Housing Strategy and review with partners.
Academic Housing adopted by City Council.
City staff will work closely with academic partners to develop an implementation plan for the Academic Housing Strategy. Annual update reports on the Strategy will be included as part of annual update reports on the HousingTO 2020-2030 Action Plan.