Looking at Solutions for Affordable Toronto Housing

As the affordability issue of Toronto housing continues to drive conversation and political argument, several creative solutions are being explored for helping Canadians find ways to live in North America’s most expensive city. 


The City of Toronto and community organizations are exploring innovative housing ideas, new taxes, and new rules to ease the burden on many Toronto residents. 


These are just a few of the new ideas for Toronto housing being discussed. 


Garden Suites


The City of Toronto wants feedback on Garden Suites, which are a new kind of housing. 


Relatively small residences, Garden Suites can be built in a backyard and rented out to a tenant looking for something small and affordable. They add value to existing properties, provide income to the property owner, and increase the supply of housing at a time when Toronto desperately needs it. 


The city is proposing the construction of many such suites as part of its Expanding Housing Options in Neighborhood Initiative. It’s a way of creating more diverse opportunities for housing in a way that benefits all kinds of Toronto residents.


As noted by an article in View the Vibe, Toronto is dominated by Victorian architecture, and Garden Suites don’t necessarily fit the style, but “giving people a chance to make a new contribution to the cityscape is exciting,” the article said. 


“It’s an opportunity to let people put a little of their individuality into the city,” the article said.


Multi-Tenant Housing


This idea is a bit controversial, but it also already exists, just not legally. 


Many owners of houses in Scarborough, North York, East York and Etokicoke have divided the home’s rooms to rent out to multiple tenants at the same time. 


Technically, the practice is illegal, which is why many such homeowners are pushing the city to change the rules. 


An article in Toronto.com said that many tenant advocates say that multi-tenant housing has become “crucial” to help people find places to live. 


Toronto politicians have tried and failed for more than 10 years to create a single city-wide rule for legal multi-tenant housing. On two occasions, the city has drafted plans which were then consulted on and never approved. 


According to Toronto.com, “the city has quietly opened consultations on a new ‘multi-tenant housing’ proposal it says would allow licensed, safe, well-maintained and affordable multi-tenant houses across Toronto.”


The definitions vary for multi-tenant housing, but the city is proposing that a building with four or more dwelling rooms “that may have shared washrooms and cooking facilities” should be considered multi-tenant housing.


Taxes, Taxes


Discussions about changes to the local or even national tax code have been a frequent topic of discussion for addressing the ballooning prices of Canadian housing. 


The Liberals added a tax for offshore owners of vacant homes, which exists already in Ontario and British Columbia. 


But that tax is “low-hanging fruit,” economist Mike Moffatt of the Ivey School at Western University told Yahoo News. 


Moffat said any policy that can deter the hoarding of homes by those wealthy enough to afford it is probably a good idea. The economist added that increasing property taxes would likely be a more effective way to bring in revenue than another vacancy tax. 


“The major reason house prices have been going up is that there’s three buyers for every seller,” said Moffatt.


There’s no doubt that the arguments about how to address Toronto’s affordability crisis will continue for years to come. And the real solution is likely going to be a combination of the above changes as well as other ideas we haven’t seen yet. One thing seems certain: Toronto will continue growing in size and complexity for the foreseeable future.


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