What to know
- Olivia Chow is promising 10,000 new rental homes, including affordable units, next year.
- The homes would be delivered through Toronto’s Rental Housing Supply Program.
- Chow says the plan builds on more than 15,000 homes already under construction and her goal of 65,000 homes by 2030.
- Housing remains a major issue in the Toronto mayoral race, with Chow and Brad Bradford offering competing proposals.
Fresh off a debate in Scarborough, mayoral candidate Olivia Chow is promising to build 10,000 new rental homes, including affordable units, next year.
Chow made the announcement Thursday morning, following Wednesday’s debate in Scarborough. The incumbent said the homes would be delivered through her Rental Housing Supply Program, on top of projects already in the pipeline.
She said the plan would build on commitments already underway, including more than 15,000 homes currently under construction.
Chow has set a goal of 65,000 new homes by 2030.
“If you’re a nurse, a teacher or a construction worker, you should be able to afford to live here. And not in a shoebox, but in a real home,” Chow said in a news release. “These projects are ready.”
Chow said she would bring the projects before council at its first meeting of the new term.
“No waiting around. Because families cannot put their lives on hold,” she said.
Chow also touted her record on housing, including working with the federal and provincial governments to secure $1.5 billion for Toronto through the Canada-Ontario Partnership to Build.
Housing has become a major issue in the Toronto election, with Chow and Bradford, two of the leading mayoral candidates, putting forward different proposals.
Chow previously announced plans to create a Bad Landlords Task Force aimed at protecting renters. The task force would bring together enforcement officers and lawyers to proactively inspect problem buildings, pursue court orders for repairs and take action against landlords who repeatedly fail to maintain their properties.
Bradford has also announced housing proposals aimed at protecting renters, including enforcing renoviction by-laws and establishing a maximum heat standard requiring at least one cool living space in every rental home.
He has also proposed eliminating the municipal Land Transfer Tax, freezing property taxes and cutting water bills by 25 per cent.
Chow’s latest housing promise comes during the advance voting period, which runs until Oct. 11. Toronto’s municipal election is set for Oct. 26.
