The federal government and the City of Toronto are putting more than $2.7 billion behind 18 rental housing projects across the city over the next three years, Prime Minister Mark Carney and Mayor Olivia Chow announced Wednesday.
The portfolio is expected to produce more than 5,600 rental homes in total, spanning affordable, supportive, rent-geared-to-income, and rent-controlled units.
Construction is slated to begin on more than 4,500 of those homes before the end of 2026.
The funding runs through two channels. On the non-market side, Build Canada Homes will contribute more than $310 million toward nine projects on City-owned land, producing close to 1,900 rental homes — over 700 of them supportive or affordable — plus more than 1,100 rent-controlled units delivered through the non-market housing sector.
The City is matching that with public land offered at nominal value, more than $530 million in capital funding and incentives, and property tax exemptions running as long as 99 years.
On the market side, CMHC's Apartment Construction Loan Program is providing more than $1.8 billion in low-cost financing for a separate set of nine projects, expected to deliver over 3,700 rental homes, including more than 1,000 affordable units. Ottawa has also set aside up to $600 million in additional financing under the program for other Toronto projects as they become construction-ready.
Individual sites in the portfolio include a 100-unit Indigenous-led supportive housing development at 15 Denison Avenue, a mass-timber build at 1113-1125 Dundas Street West, and a volumetric-modular project at 805 Wellington. The government says the mass-timber and modular methods can cut construction emissions by up to 22% compared with conventional builds. Construction on the portfolio is projected to support roughly 2,100 jobs annually, and materials sourcing will prioritize Canadian steel and lumber under the federal Buy Canadian policy.
The announcement builds on a run of federal housing measures introduced over the past year. Build Canada Homes, launched in September, has now committed to close to 17,000 units through 17 partnerships nationally, with more than 1,900 already under construction. Ottawa has also eliminated the GST on homes up to $1 million for first-time buyers, worth up to $50,000 in savings, and is removing the full 13% HST on new homes in Ontario, worth up to $130,000. Separately, the Canada-Ontario Partnership to Build directed $1.5 billion to the City of Toronto to cut residential development charges by 40% to 60%, lowering the cost of a new single or semi-detached home by roughly $83,000.
"Toronto is becoming a model for how a great city can build its way forward," Carney said at the announcement.
Chow credited the partnership with helping residents "stay close to their communities" as the city works to expand its affordable housing stock.
