There have been a near-record number of new homes built in Toronto and other Canadian municipalities in recent years. Only a tiny fraction of them are truly affordable to low and moderate-income households. Even middle-income households are increasingly being squeezed out of private housing markets.

On June 26, 2008 the Wellesley Institute and the University of Toronto Cities Centre hosted a forum to review the opportunities and challenges of inclusionary zoning, a practice used by hundreds of municipalities across the United States to create affordable homes. More than 100 people gathered at the Sutton Place hotel to hear about how inclusionary zoning works in the US and what might be useful in the Canadian context. They heard from:

Richard Drdla, a planning consultant in Toronto with a long time interest in inclusionary planning policies. - Download Richard Drdla's Presentation [0] | View Video of Drdla's Presentation [0]

David Rusk, the leading U.S. authority on inclusionary zoning (and the former mayor of Santa Fe) - Download David Rusk's Presentation [0] | View Video of Rusk's Presentation [0]

Sheila Dillon, the Director of Housing for the City of Boston - Presentation [0]

Adam Gross, a lawyer with Business and Professional People for the Public Interest (BPI) in Chicago. Information about the work of Adamn Gross and the programs at BPI Chicago visit Business and Professional People for the Public Interest [1] - View Video of Gross' Presentation [1]

Russell Mawby, the Director of Housing [2] for the City of Ottawa [3].

For a full-screen view or to download these videos, visit the Wellesley Institute's station on blip.tv [4]

The Wellesley institute will build on this very successful event by engaging community activists and leaders, as well as planners and policy makers in making inclusionary planning an integral part of city building.

For more information about the on-going work of the Wellesley Institute, please contact Brian Eng [5]