In advance of last year’s provincial budget, we called for important, necessary public strategies to build a New Normal in Ontario. Our focus was around poverty, homelessness, race, healthcare, mental health and well-being, while leading the fight against the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Unfortunately, we have not seen the progress we hoped to on those measures. […]
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Housing
Toronto Housing Action Plan: Who will it be for?
Toronto has significant, and worsening, health inequities. Wellesley Institute research shows that social factors such as housing, income, education, and access to social supports, are vital for individual and community health as well as Canada’s economic growth. Eliminating inequities in the social determinants of health must be our priority. We can build a future in […]
Continue ReadingToronto Housing Action Plan: Who will it be for?
“Fighting to keep your home in a community”: Understanding evictions through service provider and community leader perspectives in North York communities
A previous Wellesley Institute study on formal eviction applications in Toronto found that areas with higher proportions of low-income households had 2.5 times higher eviction filing rates. Independent of this association, areas where more Black renters lived had rates that were two times higher. Building on previous work, this latest report explores how local service […]
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Policy position: Housing
We can build a future in which everyone in the Greater Toronto Area [GTA] has the opportunities and resources they need to have a healthy home. Healthy housing must be affordable, as people spending more than 30% of their income on housing means significant stress on their resources. Healthy housing must also be safe, of […]
Erosion of affordable rental housing in Toronto: Findings from the 2021 census
According to the latest census data several changes have taken place in Toronto’s housing market which have had consequences for population health. More people are renting their homes than ever before, women and older adults continue to live in unhealthy rental housing, and fewer homes are available at rents affordable to low-income households. Additionally, many […]
Continue ReadingErosion of affordable rental housing in Toronto: Findings from the 2021 census
“Can you send someone who speaks my language?” Language barriers among older adults living in Toronto’s social housing
This report focuses on older adult tenants with limited English proficiency who live in Toronto’s social housing. Many expressed challenges understanding tenant-related documents and announcements as they were often communicated in English. This made it difficult for tenants to engage with housing staff and participate in their community. For older tenants with limited English proficiency […]
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Widening inequities: Long-term housing affordability in the Toronto CMA
This paper examines long-term population-level housing affordability challenges and trends in the Toronto Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) from 1991 to 2016. This project’s goal is to analyze how housing affordability has changed for the general population and for different socio-demographic groups over this 25-year study period. Affordability is measured using shelter cost to income ratio […]
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A new normal for ending homelessness: Collective action towards adequate support
The pandemic and the associated recession provide an opportunity for us to reconsider the ‘normal’ state of affairs. Now is the time to envision a bold new normal and learn from the failures of the previous status quo. The old normal In the years leading up to the COVID-19 pandemic, the estimated number of Canadians […]
Continue ReadingA new normal for ending homelessness: Collective action towards adequate support
Hiking the rent when doing repairs: Above Guideline Increases in Toronto
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Toronto had been facing a crisis in housing affordability. Furthermore, during the pandemic many renters have lost their employment. Following the lifting of the provincial moratorium, this has put many at risk of arrears debt, and evictions. Rent increases can exacerbate affordability and arrears challenges, and so understanding them is […]
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Renovictions, demovictions, landlord’s own-use evictions, and more
The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the urgency surrounding residential evictions. Evictions have the potential to disrupt the public health responses to COVID-19, magnify the associated recession, and disrupt tenants’ lives. All of these outcomes would have negative impacts on population health and well-being. Data shows that over 10 per cent of rental units in Toronto […]
Continue ReadingRenovictions, demovictions, landlord’s own-use evictions, and more Download PublicationBrief 2 – Eviction applications unrelated to owed rent