The public is invited to provide input for the HousingTO Action Plan 2020-2030 in person at four public consultation sessions, which will be in an open house format accompanied by a presentation to give an overview of the consultation process. The public consultations will take place at the following times and locations:
While Toronto Community Housing (TCHC) tenants are welcome to attend the public consultations, the City will also offer four TCHC-specific consultations at the following times and locations:
The City is hosting focused stakeholder consultations throughout the month of May. The sessions will work to provide solutions for particular housing challenges and feed into the development of the housing plan recommendations. The City will work to ensure these stakeholders include organizations that serve individuals seeking housing and housing supports, organizations serving marginalized and equity-seeking groups, and those representing various aspects of the housing sector.
While members of the Indigenous community are invited to provide feedback at the public consultation sessions, the City will host dedicated consultation session(s) for Indigenous communities and service providers. The consultation session(s) will be designed with the Indigenous Community Advisory Board and will be held at a location and time determined by the Indigenous community.
The Housing Plan website has resources available for community groups that prefer to host their own consultations with their members or clients. For non-profit community groups requiring some financial support to host a consultation event, a small grant will be available to offset costs through an application-based process. Grants will be prioritized for organizations serving vulnerable and/or equity-seeking groups with a target of at least 20 participants in the consultation session. Details of the community grants program and consultation materials can be found at www.toronto.ca/housingplan.
A Housing Forum will be held on the evening of June 12 and the full day of June 13. The focus of the forum will be to highlight the results of the consultations and discuss proposed recommendations for the housing plan. While guest speakers from other jurisdictions will be invited to share best practices, the goal will be to ensure that the City’s plan reflects a made-in-Toronto approach to addressing housing challenges in our city.
An online questionnaire is available at www.toronto.ca/housingplan for the public to complete. For more information, members of the public can call 3-1-1 or email housingplan@toronto.ca.
Addressing housing and homelessness issues is complex and something the City does with the contribution of its community-based service providers and community contributors. To help ensure that the new housing plan is solutions-focused and responsive to the needs of Torontonians, an external advisory committee has been created with more than 20 representatives from the broader community and housing sectors.
The external advisory committee will provide advice to the City on the consultation process and as the housing plan is drafted. Members include individuals with lived experience, groups that serve marginalized and equity seeking groups, those working in the housing and homelessness sectors, researchers and community builders. Deputy Mayor Ana Bailão co-chairs the committee. The external advisory committee membership list and member bios are available at www.toronto.ca/housingplan.
The City commissioned a housing market analysis by the Canadian Urban Institute and the Canadian Centre for Economic Analysis, which was released in January 2019. The report provides details on the current state of housing in Toronto and makes projections over the next 10 and 20 years. The full report can be found at: www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2019/ph/bgrd/backgroundfile-124480.pdf.
The report highlights that people are challenged at various points in Toronto’s housing market, with specific groups, such as people experiencing chronic homelessness, Indigenous people, seniors, single-led households and newcomers, facing particularly acute challenges.