Housing now or housing never? Toronto mayoral candidates pitch plans to address crisis

Toronto's housing crisis gained more prominence in the mayoral byelection race this week, with voters getting a taste of candidates' plans to deal with the city's growing affordability crunch.

Both Olivia Chow and Brad Bradford made announcements aimed at addressing sky-rocketing home and rental prices in the city. And a provincial policy aimed at spurring home construction became a topic of debate as well.

The pace of the announcements continued to pick up in the fourth week of the campaign as several candidates touted high-profile endorsements and even more released new policy.

Here's a glimpse of where things stand.

Candidates need to get candid on solutions: professor

Olivia Chow unveiled the first plank of her policy platform, focusing on protections for renters. She's promising to create a $100-million fund to help transfer affordable rental apartment buildings to not-for-profits providers. She is also pledging to double the city's rent bank and increase the reach of a city eviction protection program.

Chow said additional pieces of her housing plan will address issues with zoning, affordable housing and housing supply. She says she'd pay for it by increasing Toronto's vacant home tax by two points to three per cent.

Brad Bradford, who is a former city planner, also announced his own platform plank to get housing built. If elected, Bradford said he would increase supply by delivering "missing middle" projects while also unlocking government-owned lands for development. He also said he would streamline the approvals process at city hall to speed up project approvals.

Bradford had some critical things to say about the city's plan to build affordable housing, dubbed Housing Now. With the pace of the program, he quipped, the program might as well be called "Housing Never".

The program was first launched in 2019 and construction has yet to begin on any of its projects. A handful of projects that are set to move forward this year are in danger of stalling because of a Ford government policy. 

Candidates Ana Bailão, Mitzie Hunter and Mark Saunders said their housing policies are on the way. 

Matti Siemiatycki, the director of the Infrastructure Institute at the University of Toronto, said he'd like to see the candidates explore the solutions with some candor. An honest discussion about land-use, accessing public lands and creating partnerships to accelerate construction is needed, he said.

"I want to see a frank conversation about what intensification looks like and how we're going to pay for the inclusive, affordable types of housing that get integrated into developments," he said.

Field of hopefuls grows, endorsements trickle in

As of Friday, the race now has 59 candidates, with Rupica Singh Waraich become the first to withdraw.

The deadline to drop out of the race and not have one's name appear on the ballot is May 12.

Expect more movement ahead of that deadline as candidates weigh how their fundraising is going and others look at their internal polling to determine if they can make a realistic run for the mayor's chair.

Bailão started the week off winning the endorsement of former Toronto mayors Art Eggleton and Barbara Hall.

Former police chief Mark Saunders also received an endorsement from current city councillor Stephen Holyday. Holyday, a conservative from Etobicoke, had publicly mused about jumping into the race for weeks but ultimately didn't, which could consolidate more right-leaning voters more tightly around Saunders. 

Bradford, meanwhile, had a beer with John Tory, leading some to wonder if the former mayor who sparked this whole byelection will endorse a possible successor. 

Former city councillor and veteran municipal politician Joe Mihevc says in city politics, endorsements do matter. That's because name recognition is so important. So, if a candidate needs to bolster their name recognition, there's few better ways than to hitch their wagon to a known quantity. 

"When I was knocking on doors for a candidate in the last municipal election, someone would say, 'If you're with Mike Layton, for example, you're okay with me,'" Mihevc said.   

"Knowing who to trust in this is really what endorsements are about."

Policy planks you may have missed

On Monday, Hunter unveiled a plan to keep libraries open on Sundays and to pivot some of their work towards a "community hub" model to help youth and people experiencing homelessness. She estimates the plan will cost $29 million and says she'll draw from two Toronto Public Library reserves to fund her promise.

Hunter also announced a plan to eliminate fees for CafeTO to encourage more participation in the program and help city restaurants.

Chloe Brown, meanwhile, is launching a bid to get more community fridges in Toronto. She's calling on religious sites to add them.

Saunders called on city council to cancel its request to the federal government to decriminalize drugs for personal use. The stance is notable because it runs contrary to that of Toronto police chief Myron Demkiw, who supports the policy.

He also pledged to stop bike lanes on Bloor Street West, and to review other lanes to ensure they're not an impediment to traffic.

Anthony Furey promised to eliminate the land transfer tax, a fee applied to home sales in the city. He would phase in the change over four years if elected, he said. The land transfer tax is a cash-cow for the city, raising hundreds of million in revenue for the city each year.

He also promised to sue Metrolinx over it's work on troubled Eglinton Crosstown light-rail line, if elected.

Bradford joined in, slamming Metrolinx and calling for the head of the transit agency to be fired over the Crosstown delays.

In a light-hearted social media post, he addressed the questions he gets about his name in this video.

On the transit file, Josh Matlow promised to restore TTC service to full pre-pandemic levels by the end of his mayoral term if he is elected. The city budget passed in February cut service levels to 91 per cent of what they were prior to 2020 and Matlow said that has resulted in longer waits. 

Matlow also said he'd invest $50 million to reverse cuts from earlier this year. He estimates restoring full service will require $183 million a year.