Tory outlines plan for 'more types of housing in more neighbourhoods' as 1st election promise

John Tory, who is seeking re-election as Toronto's mayor, made his first announcement of the 2022 campaign on Tuesday, outlining his proposal to build "more types of housing in more neighbourhoods" in the city.

The plan includes five key pillars, according to Tory, who appeared alongside council allies Ana Bailão (who is not running in the October election) and Brad Bradford at a morning announcement downtown. 

The first is a commitment to eliminate and reform outdated planning rules that have prevented more "missing middle" housing types from being built in the city, particularly on major roads served by the TTC. These include duplexes and triplexes and the kinds of mid-rise, walk-up apartment buildings seen in some Toronto neighbourhoods that were largely developed before the Second World War.

"We simply cannot afford, as a city, to stand in the way of these housing options," Tory said. "We can't anymore only have the option between two-storey housing and 60-storey towers. There are many more options in between that and we need to take advantage of those options."

Tory added that the reforms would allow for missing middle developments to be built as of right, meaning the projects would largely avoid the "lengthy and costly approval process" for re-zoning.

Housing affordability advocates have longed called for an overhaul of Toronto's existing zoning practices, which have kept many neighbourhoods restricted for single-family homes only.

The province's housing affordability task force found in its February 2022 report that in roughly 70 per cent of Toronto, zoning guidelines prevent all but single-family homes from being built. Increasing density in neighbourhoods currently preserved for single-family units was among the task force's top recommendations to increase affordability.

The second part of the plan would see the creation of a development and growth division at city hall that would serve as a "one-stop shop" for developers, Tory said. By reorganizing existing staff, the city could streamline the approval process and end the "spin cycle" housing proposals must currently go through before being given a green light, he added.

The third pillar would see council ask the province for authority to implement a "use it or lose it" standard for land owned by private developers. That means that land would need to be developed within a certain timeframe or the owners risk losing their zoning approvals or potentially face higher taxes.

Other elements of Tory's proposal include:

• Allocating a portion of city-owned land to non-profits for the construction of affordable and supportive housing, with an emphasis on co-operative housing. These projects would be exempt from development charges, he said.
• Incentivizing purpose-built rental housing by reducing fees and ensuring projects are fast-tracked by the proposed development and growth division.

Housing affordability is among the issues expected to dominate the municipal election, which is slated for Monday, Oct. 24. Despite recent drops due in part to higher interest rates, the average price to purchase a detached single-family home in Toronto remains well above $1.5 million, according to the most recent MLS Home Price index. The average price of an apartment in the city is nearly $780,000, while the average rent across all types of housing is more than $2,100 per month.

'Gentle intensification' needed, professor says

Matti Siemiatycki, a professor of geography and planning at the University of Toronto, said he is pleased that housing is a key issue in Toronto's municipal election in general and the focus is on the "missing middle" in particular. 

He said Toronto is known for its "tall and sprawl" form of development, where there are tall buildings in the downtown core and at key intersections and sprawl elsewhere in the city, with very little in between. He said what is missing are mid-size buildings on avenues, as well as fourplexes and "gentle intensification" in neighbourhoods of single-family homes.

"There have been efforts for years to try to unblock the permitting zoning approvals process. There are missing middle projects that I've seen that have taken up to six years to get a seven-storey building built on a main avenue. It is just hard to get these projects built for all sorts of reasons. They have to meet a lot of requirements," he said.

Siemiatycki said he thinks if the city had a plan to build more of the "missing middle" homes, that could mean tens of thousands of new units. He said there is an opportunity to develop on sites that already have "huge potential," such as surface parking lots and surplus lands from agencies, boards and commissions.

"There's a huge opportunity to unlock those lands and turn some of that property into missing middle housing," he said.

He added there are also opportunities on privately held land, including on sites owned for years by retailers and grocery stores, and in back yards in the form of garden suites. But the economics, zoning and math don't work right now to make the development feasible, he said. 

Developing on these lands would bring prices down and make the city more inclusive, he said.

A total of 31 candidates have registered to run for mayor of Toronto. You can find the full list of candidates here.