Downtown Condos and Social Housing

Through Section 37 of the City of Toronto’s Planning Act, it is possible to get social housing incorporated into some of the larger scale condo developments in Toronto. But wait. What is Section 37, and do we want social housing units mixed with luxury suites?

According to the City of Toronto website, Section 37 “permits the City to authorize increases in permitted height and/or density through the zoning bylaw in return for community benefits.” You know how developers always want to build higher, but the City always says no? Well, if the developer is willing to give a little extra back to the community in the form of parkland or other public space, or in this case, social housing, the City just might approve those extra few storeys.

Last Thursday, the Institute of Municipal Finance and Governance (IMFG) released a report stating that only about 6% of Section 37 agreements ever lead to housing of any kind. Well, one development that stands out is Ten York by Tridel. The 62-storey condo, planned for York and Harbour St., will feature 694 units, and 12 of them will be managed by the Co-op Housing Federation of Toronto.

The concept of including affordable housing in the Ten York development was presented by Councillor Adam Vaughan. According to the Toronto Star, in an article that was released last December, there are about 12 other mid- to high-rise buildings in Vaughan’s Ward that will feature affordable housing.

We love the idea of having people of mixed incomes all sharing the same benefits of a condo and a downtown address, as opposed to building entire mid-rises of affordable housing on the outskirts of the city.

Now, imagine if every developer started making deals through Section 37. We’d be building higher, and there would be more affordable housing available. But would a few affordable units in each condo actually make a difference? We think that in order for a deal through Section 37 to be more effective, the ratio between affordable units and regular units would have to be slightly more even.

But it looks like we’re on track. We’re excited to see that big name developers, like Tridel, are setting the trend of incorporating social housing into their downtown condo developments. Hopefully, others will follow, and we can have an even more diverse downtown community.