Making Housing More Affordable in Toronto

Toronto, Ontario, January 16, 2020

Thanks to investments made by the Government of Canada and the City of Toronto, Toronto residents will soon benefit from a significant increase in the supply of rental housing in their city and have access to more safe, affordable places to call home.

Today, the Honourable Ahmed Hussen, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development and the Minister responsible for Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) announced the federal government is financing $200 million for the construction of six rental residential buildings with 916 rental units at Mirvish Village, a mixed-use, 100% rental community at the site of the historic Honest Ed’s department store, at the corner of Bloor Street West and Bathurst Street.

This project, developed by Westbank Corp. and Peterson Group, is receiving financing through CMHC’s Rental Construction Financing initiative (RCFi), a National Housing Strategy program delivered by CMHC. This initiative supports rental housing construction projects to assist in providing a stable supply of rental housing for middle-class families living in expensive housing markets.

Mirvish Village includes six rental residential buildings with a total of 916 rental units. Of those, 366 units will be provided at rents at or below 30% of median household income. Of the 366 affordable units, 100 will be secured at 80% of Average Market Rent for the City of Toronto, as published by CMHC. These affordable units will be scattered throughout the project and will be of the same quality and design as market rent units.

Quotes:

“Our Government is taking action to strengthen the middle class. Through the National Housing Strategy, we can ensure more Canadians have access to housing that meets their needs, and that they can afford. This development is an example of how we are increasing the number of rental units in Toronto and across Canada
— The Honourable Ahmed Hussen, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development and the Minister responsible for Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC)

“Today’s announcement reinforces our government’s commitment to creating homes that are affordable, energy efficient, and accessible. By helping build communities such as Mirvish Village, where people can live close to jobs, schools, and public transit, we can make a meaningful difference in the lives of Canadians.”
— The Honourable Chrystia Freeland, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs

“This funding for the Mirvish Village will help us preserve a historic and vibrant community in our city. Honest Ed's was a beloved part of our city and by creating affordable housing on this vacant land we are able to address the housing challenges our city faces. I want to thank the federal government for providing this important funding. This $200 million commitment demonstrates the importance of all levels of government working together to address issues that impact Torontonians.”
— John Tory, Mayor of Toronto

“Our years of experience with CMHC starting with the redevelopment of Woodward’s has resulted in some of the most meaningful city building in Canada and Mirvish Village is the largest of those projects to date. Our ambitions with this project are very significant and none of this could be accomplished without the commitment from the team at CMHC and the commitment from the Government of Canada.”
— Ian Gillespie, Founder, Westbank

Quick facts:

The RCFi, a National Housing Strategy (NHS) initiative delivered by CMHC, supports affordable rental housing construction projects to encourage a stable supply of affordable rental housing across the country for middle-class households living in expensive housing markets.
Mirvish Village comprises a mixed-use, purpose-built 100% rental project with 279 studio units, 230 one-bedroom units, 284 two-bedroom units, 87 three-bedroom units and 36 live/work units. In addition to rental residential, the project will include the restoration of 24 heritage buildings, a public market and outdoor performance venue, a comprehensive cycling program, daycare, new public park, micro-retail incubator spaces created in collaboration with the Centre for Social Innovation and public art installations curated in partnership with David Mirvish.
The project includes a Neighbourhood Energy System by district energy provider Creative Energy, comprising a block-scale network that will provide reliable and low-carbon heating, cooling, and power. Mirvish Village is modelled to achieve a reduction of 23.7% in annual energy use and 30.8% in greenhouse gas emissions compared to the National Energy Code of Canada for Buildings 2015 reference building.
This project represents a major new supply of purpose-built rental housing in downtown Toronto where vacancy rates in 2018 were 1.1%
Launched in April 2017, the RCFi has generated a lot of interest and a high number of quality applications. This is why, through Budget 2018, the Government increased the amount of low-cost loans provided by this initiative from $2.5 billion to $3.75 billion and further increased to $13.75 billion with Budget 2019. In total, the RCFi will encourage the construction of 42,500 new rental housing units across Canada.
Through RCFi, low-cost loans are available to borrowers who want to build affordable rental housing in Canada in response to demonstrated community need.
The rental market is an important housing option for approximately 30% of Canadians.
Under the Investing in Canada plan, the Government of Canada is investing more than $180 billion over 12 years in public transit projects, green infrastructure, social infrastructure, trade and transportation routes, and Canada's rural and northern communities.

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As Canada’s authority on housing, CMHC contributes to the stability of the housing market and financial system, provides support for Canadians in housing need, and offers unbiased housing research and advice to all levels of Canadian government, consumers and the housing industry. For more information, follow us on Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook.

To find out more about the National Housing Strategy, visit www.placetocallhome.ca.