The HousingTO 2020 -2030 Action Plan provides a blueprint for action across the full housing spectrum – from homelessness to rental and ownership housing to long-term care for seniors. This new plan was created following a comprehensive public and stakeholder consultation in 2019 and sets an aggressive housing agenda focused on supporting people over the next 10 years. As outlined in the the revised Toronto Housing Charter – Opportunity for All, City of Toronto recognizes that housing is essential to the inherent dignity and well-being of the person and to building sustainable and inclusive communities.
The HousingTO Plan updates and builds upon the City’s first housing plan, Housing Opportunities Toronto Action Plan 2010-2020. It aligns with other City policies such as the Poverty Reduction Strategy, Resilience Strategy, TransformTO, the Seniors Strategy . It also sets targets to be achieved over the next 10 years with estimates of the financial investments necessary to achieve success. Additionally, the Plan provides for increased accountability and oversight over a range of government resources necessary for improving housing outcomes for residents. Read the full staff report and other complementary materials.
Toronto is a city with a diverse range of housing opportunities. It is a place where families and individuals live in safe, well-maintained and affordable housing with respect and dignity and where people have equal opportunities to succeed.
Since the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, City staff across City divisions, agencies and corporations, have been actively engaged and working with all orders of government and community partners to respond to the pandemic and lay the foundation for recovery. These partnership efforts have focused on supporting our most vulnerable and marginalized residents, including a significant expansion of the emergency shelter system to create spaces for physical distancing and isolation and moving clients from the shelter system into permanent housing where possible.
The goal of the City of Toronto’s COVID-19 Housing and Homelessness Recovery Response Plan is to create 3,000 permanent, affordable homes, within the next 24 months, for vulnerable and marginalized residents. It requests the federal and provincial governments to fast-track and expand initiatives under the National Housing Strategy and other existing federal and provincial funding programs while also reiterating previous requests to partner on the City’s HousingTO 2020-2030 Action Plan.
In late March 2020, in response to the COVID-19 crisis, the City of Toronto, under the leadership of Deputy Mayor Ana Bailão, established a Housing Action Team. The Team is comprised of representatives from various sectors brought together to flag new and emerging issues, collectively identify solutions, and plan for longer term recovery. Specifically, the Housing Action Team is focused on solutions as they relate to people (people experiencing homelessness, renters and operators/landlords) and the creation of a diverse set of affordable and market rental housing opportunities.
The COVID-19 Interim Shelter Recovery Strategy offers advice to guide the City of Toronto Shelter Support and Housing Administration (SSHA), United Way Greater Toronto (United Way), community agencies, and other partners in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic in the shelter and homelessness service system over the next 12 months.
This strategy presents immediate priorities in the context of the pandemic and lays a foundation to build on in SSHA’s upcoming five-year service plan. The advice offered in this report was generated through a process co-convened by SSHA and United Way, and led by a task force of leaders in the homelessness service system.
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City Council adopted the HousingTO 2020-2030 Implementation Plan on September 30, October 1 and 2, 2020 as the accountability framework to monitor the City’s progress towards delivering on the actions identified in the HousingTO 2020-2030 Action Plan over the next ten years.
The HousingTO Implementation Plan also includes an overview of progress made to-date. Annual updates will be provided to Council on progress and will also identify any risks and opportunities, plus recommendations to “change course”, if needed.
When the HousingTO 2020-2030 Action Plan and the revised Toronto Housing Charter were adopted in 2019 the City Manager was directed by City Council to report back on the role or function for a Housing Commissioner to:
The City Manager retained Crean Consulting and the Maytree Foundation, external experts in accountability, governance, human rights and community engagement, to undertake a review and provide advice on how a Housing Commissioner role or function can be established that is suitable for Toronto and will help the City address key housing challenges.
Crean and Maytree’s final report was provided to the City Manager in May 2022.
Following a review of Crean and Maytree’s final report, the City Manager recommended several concrete actions be undertaken across the City’s governance system to help the City move towards the progressive realization of the right to housing.
City Council adopted the following recommendations from the City Manager at its meeting on July 19, 2022:
The City of Toronto would like to thank the residents and organizations that participated in the HousingTO consultation process. Read the Consultation Summary Report.
As part of developing the new HousingTO 2020-2030 Action Plan, the City hosted an International Public Panel Discussion on Housing. Panelists from Vancouver, Chicago, and Cleveland presented inspiring ideas and lessons learned on eliminating homelessness, creating mixed-income communities and boosting the supply of affordable housing in cities across North America.
In response to a Council direction through Housing Opportunities Toronto Action Plan (2020- 2030) Directions Report an External Advisory Committee was established to advise staff in developing the City’s new 10-year housing plan.
The External Advisory Committee, co-chaired by Deputy Mayor Ana Bailão and David Raycraft, the Director of Housing Services at Dixon Hall, brought together experts from a wide variety of organizations and sectors as well as people with lived experience of poverty, housing insecurity and homelessness.
The Committee helped City staff in considering various aspects of the housing system in Toronto and shared their perspectives on potential solutions, opportunities and challenges.
City Council endorsed the Housing Opportunities Toronto (HOT) Action Plan 2010-2020 as a road map to steer the work and investment decisions of the City of Toronto as they relate to housing in partnership with federal and provincial governments, as well as the public and private housing sectors over this decade.
The City is pleased to provide Annual Progress Reports based on the eight key themes used to organize the 67 recommended actions in the HOT Plan:
The City of Toronto uses federal, provincial and City investments to create and repair affordable rental and ownership homes, in partnership with the private/non-profit sectors, to work toward meeting its housing action plan targets.
The Affordable Housing Office publishes progress reports on the number of new affordable homes approved, completed and repaired: