The Alliance for Affordable Co-operative Housing, Co-operative Housing Federation of Toronto and Social Planning Toronto invite you to take part in this special event dedicated to putting housing back on the national agenda. Bring your questions and ideas!

Saturday, November 6
Doors open 12:30 p.m., town hall 1-3 p.m.
Metro Hall, 55 John Street, Room 308/309, Toronto

Light refreshments provided.

Moderator:

• Jacquie Maund, Family Service Toronto and Ontario Campaign 2000

Speakers:

• Olivia Chow, New Democratic Party of Canada
• Rebecca Harrison, Green Party of Canada
• Bob Rae, Liberal Party of Canada
• Conservative Party of Canada (invited)
• Tom Clement, Co-operative Housing Federation of Toronto
• Sharron MacPherson, Toronto ACORN
• Winnie Ng, Good Jobs for All Coalition
• Michael Shapcott, Wellesley Institute

Co-sponsors:

• Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario, Campaign 2000, COSTI, Family Service Toronto, Housing Action Now, Housing Help Association of Ontario, University of Toronto’s Community Development Program

All are welcome. As space is limited, please register below or call (416) 351-0095 x251.

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Download the full report [PDF Format]

Setting the Context

Access to safe and affordable housing is a human right, a basic need, and a vital determinant of individual, family and community health. It is critical to Toronto’s ability to attract and sustain workers as a major driver of Ontario’s economy, and plays an important role in ensuring a greener, livable city and promoting vibrant communities.

Across Ontario, more than 627,000 households are in core housing need, lacking suitable, adequate and/or affordable housing and without the income to access it. This crisis is felt acutely in Toronto where a third of all Ontario’s tenant households reside. Toronto is a city of renters where over 45% of all occupied dwellings are rental dwellings. In a city where 1 in 4 residents lives in poverty, high rent and utility costs and lack of social housing leaves about 257,700 households without affordable homes and tens of thousands more homeless. Overcrowding and major repair issues coupled with the affordability problem affect large numbers of residents.

Communities and groups disproportionately affected by lack of adequate, suitable and affordable housing include renters, low income residents, the unemployed, households whose major source of income comes from government transfers, the youngest and oldest in the population, women, lone parent families who are primarily mothers and children, recent immigrants, racialized groups, Aboriginal people and people with disabilities.

We need a bold, sustainable, long-term affordable housing strategy that responds to the housing needs and ensures the housing rights of all Ontarians. In these tough economic times, the provincial government may be hesitant to make the full investment that is required to tackle Ontario’s affordable housing crisis head on. Just tinkering around the edges of the problem will not bring a lasting solution for struggling communities. A bold strategy with the dollars to back it up is critical to Toronto residents and communities across the province.

Despite green shoot sightings with the upswing of Canadian financial markets, the people’s recession in Ontario, for all intents and purposes, rages on. The number of people receiving social assistance has remained at record highs in recent months with a caseload of more than 235,000 in October 2009.9 Ontario’s official unemployment rate sits at 9.3%, 674,000 Ontarians, with double digit unemployment levels in Toronto. We are reminded that it took almost eight years to return to pre-recession employment levels after the recession of the early 1990s. Ontario faces particular challenges with the widespread loss of manufacturing jobs which may never return – recovery or no recovery.

Real investment to significantly expand Ontario’s affordable housing stock will not only provide much needed housing but also create jobs and stimulate the economy through the challenging years ahead. Local hiring strategies and women in the trades programs can provide opportunities for communities and populations hardest hit and historically disadvantaged.