Twenty-five years ago, low-income families could find housing in most parts of the city, in neighbourhoods where households with different levels of income lived next door to one another. Today, Toronto’s poor are increasingly concentrated in pockets of high-poverty and in high-rise buildings within these areas. Vertical Poverty shows that conditions in high-rise buildings located in areas of high poverty are worse than those in areas where poverty rates are low.

Policies that reverse the concentration of poverty and the poorer housing conditions associated with it, and that restore greater income mixing of neighbourhoods are critically important for the long-term health and stability of the city’s neighbourhoods. United Way Toronto offers three key recommendations, including the following points of action for each:

Restoring mixed-income neighbourhoods in Toronto

Across the country, there is growing desire for the federal government to establish a national housing strategy, which will create a foundation upon which adequate, accessible and affordable housing can be provided for all Canadians. United Way Toronto recommends that…

1. The federal government establish a National Housing Strategy, which sets out standards for adequate, accessible and affordable housing.

2. The province establish an Ontario Housing Benefit that addresses the affordability gap created by rising rents and declining incomes. This benefit would be available to both people who are working and those out of the labour market. It should be designed to take into account the gap between local rent levels and household income.

3. The federal and provincial governments increase funding for the construction of new non-profit housing, and the province and City of Toronto implement allocation policies that ensure mixed-income neighbourhoods.

4. The province amend the Planning Act to enable municipalities to implement mandatory inclusionary zoning requirements on new housing developments, in order to ensure that they include a portion of affordable housing.

5. Municipal zoning amendments be made to permit mixed-use infill development, including mixed forms and tenures of housing.

6. The City of Toronto, together with partners from the private and nonprofit sectors, launch economic development programs and opportunities specifically targeted to neighbourhoods with highly concentrated poverty.

Join the discussion on Vertical Poverty by visiting United Way Toronto’s Facebook page or by following us on Twitter @unitedwayto.

Sustaining the high-rise stock in good repair for the future

The evidence in this report of growing concentrated poverty in particular areas of the city underscores the urgent need for government to take a place-based approach in its actions to sustain high-rise housing stock in good repair, and also to improve the social and community environment of high-rise buildings. United Way Toronto recommends that…

7. The province, in the next phase of its Poverty Reduction Strategy, work with the City of Toronto and community partners to build a place-based response to the continued growth of poverty and geographic concentration of poverty in Ontario’s largest city. United Way believes that a place-based approach that addresses the unique conditions contributing to poverty in different communities is an important part of a provincial Poverty Reduction Strategy.

8. The City of Toronto continue to take a dedicated program approach to revitalizing the social and physical conditions of aging high-rise apartment buildings across the city, and sustaining this important housing resource for the city’s lower income and newcomer populations.

9. The province match federal funding for the Residential Rehabilitation Assistance Program, and with the federal government, carry out a thorough examination of the need for private landlord assistance, funding levels and eligibility criteria with a view towards the long-term sustainability and good quality of the private sector high-rise housing stock.

10. The province expand its eligibility criteria for the Infrastructure Ontario Affordable Housing Loan Program to private sector, multi-unit housing providers.

11. The federal and provincial governments continue to reinvest in the upgrading of non-profit housing beyond the current commitment of $700-million over the next two years.

12. The provincial government, as part of its new long-term infrastructure investment program and 10-year budget, consider housing as essential public infrastructure, thereby opening up a new source of funding. The Province should consider housing to be a key public asset as part of its long-term planning for investments in improving Ontario’s infrastructure.

13. The City of Toronto’s Municipal Licensing and Standards team work with community-based organizations to increase tenant awareness of their rights to request in-unit inspections and, where applicable, to increase awareness of planned building inspections as part of the Multi-Residential Apartment Building Audit and Enforcement program.

14. The provincial government convene a special working group of representatives from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, the Greater Toronto Apartment Association, Social Housing Services Corporation, the Federation of Rental-Housing Providers of Ontario, the Ontario Non-Profit Housing Association, the Technical Standards and Safety Authority, and the City of Toronto to examine the problem of chronic elevator breakdown in aging high-rise buildings, and to develop strategies that address the financial and technological challenges of replacement of these systems.

15. The Greater Toronto Apartment Association promote and expand among its members the Certified Rental Building Program, a voluntary accreditation scheme developed by the Federation of Rental-Housing Providers of Ontario, which ensures that each successfully certified building practises over 36 established building management and customer service standards.

16. The City of Toronto expand its work with property owners and tenants to develop and implement a range of approaches to help keep tenants safe during summer heat alerts, including opening up community space inside buildings for use as ‘cooling stations.’

17. The City of Toronto lead partners in a coordinated approach to dealing with problems associated with pests and vermin in apartment buildings. This should include outreach, engagement and education of tenants and landlords in order to create an integrated approach to pest management. Resources should be especially targeted at vulnerable communities.

18. The provincial government provide funding for the City of Toronto’s specific request for new resources to establish an effective, integrated and sustainable city-wide solution to the growing problem of bedbugs in Toronto.

Join the discussion on Vertical Poverty by visiting United Way Toronto’s Facebook page or by following us on Twitter @unitedwayto.

Building community through partnerships

There are brilliant examples in the City of Toronto of landlords, residents, non-governmental organizations, and business leaders coming together to build community life within towers and curtail problems of vandalism, drug dealing and crime, and with impressive results. We suggest that these kinds of partnerships be undertaken in other high-rise buildings and in high-rise building clusters. United Way Toronto recommends that…

19. The Greater Toronto Apartment Association, United Way Toronto and the City of Toronto bring together residents, community organizations and business leaders to promote and develop partnerships aimed at revitalizing the community and cultural life of towers, through the creation of common spaces and facilities where social, cultural and recreational programming can be delivered, that meet the needs of children, youth, families and the elderly.

20. The provincial government establish a program of financial assistance for private building owners to open up, upgrade and make accessible amenity spaces and recreational facilities in their buildings for the use of tenants. Assistance would be targeted to owners that house substantial numbers of low-income families in areas of concentrated poverty.

21. The City of Toronto identify supports and incentives for landlords to open up and upgrade or make accessible amenity spaces in their rental buildings.

22. The provincial government make its Community Opportunities Fund accessible to private sector tenant groups for the purpose of engaging tenants and building their capacity to be active participants in the revitalization of their tower communities.

23. Other funding bodies such as the Trillium Foundation and other charitable foundations provide support to tenants’ community building activities.

24. The provincial government, the City of Toronto, United Way Toronto, and its community partners explore ways to locate in tower communities’ after-school programming and other activities that will help the province to achieve its poverty reduction goals aimed at children and youth.

25. Municipal zoning amendments be made to permit the diversification of land uses in tower properties, to enable service delivery and local economic development, as well as commercial uses that support the creation of complete communities.

26. The City of Toronto establish and lead local partnerships of building owners, tenants, and relevant social service and other agencies to address issues of safety and social disorder in buildings. This should include an approach to tackling the problems associated with alcohol and other drugs that is based on the integrated components of prevention, harm reduction, treatment and enforcement.

Join the discussion on Vertical Poverty by visiting United Way Toronto’s Facebook page or by following us on Twitter @unitedwayto.

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