Government at every level is realizing that if we want to solve the housing crisis, something’s got to give. In the City of Toronto, where the goal is to build 65,000 new rent-controlled homes by 2030 (not to mention, 285,000 new homes of all types over that timeframe), that realization is particularly salient.
In the past 15 months alone, The City has introduced the Development Review division to improve the way applications for housing move from submission through to approval, and the Toronto Builds Policy Framework, which consolidates things like the affordability- and unit mix-requirements of programs like Housing Now, ModernTO, and other entities created to get housing built on City-owned land.
One of the latest pieces in the City’s supply-side puzzle is the Housing Development Office, which was introduced in via the Executive Committee in December 2024 and adopted that same month. The new team will be led by former-Chief Development Officer with TAS, Hugh Clark, and will work closely with the Housing Secretariat and Development Review. It has already been tasked with rolling out a three-year plan for Toronto Builds.
Meanwhile, Toronto’s Deputy City Manager of Development and Growth Services Jag Sharma is in charge of reconciling it all, and making sure various teams and staffers are “on the same page.” To find out more about how the new Housing Development Office fits into the greater context of the City, STOREYS checked in with Sharma.
STOREYS: Tell us about the Housing Development Office, and its place in the structure of the City?
Jag Sharma: The two divisions that have been created [Development Review and the Housing Development Office] were intentional in order to try and start to separate policy and strategy from operations. So, for example, Chief Planner Jason Thorne, he's on the policy strategy side of things, while Executive Director of Development Review Valesa Faria is more of the operational side — getting the development applications reviewed effectively, consistently, and quickly. What we're doing with the Housing Development Office is similar, where the Housing Secretariat will lead from a policy and strategy perspective, and the Housing Development Office will be focused on execution — so getting projects in, getting them flowing through Development Review, and facilitating them right through to occupancy permits in buildings.
A few of the things we found from a City perspective, and we heard from Council, is there wasn't as much consistency as we needed. So when we have, for example, housing being led out of the City, and then we have our partners at CreateTO, our partners at Toronto Community Housing — they're all part of the City family. However, inevitably, there will be differences in approaches. So this new Housing Development Office is really in order to create a singular focus, and what we’ll be doing is using consistent templates, consistent assumptions on financials and in other criteria, so we can maximize decision making and help ensure the, you know, the limited dollars we have are going towards the best decisions we can make, as far as the number of units we can create or the types of units Torontonians really need.
What will be your role with respect to the Housing Development Office?
My span of control covers Housing Secretariat, Chief Planner's Office, Development Review, Toronto Building, and then we have our new Housing Development Office. Then, through the delegation of authority with City Manager Paul Johnson, I lead the relationship with Toronto Community Housing, as well as significant involvement with CreateTO and Vic Gupta. Essentially, my role is to kind of keep all of our teammates and staff on the same page, making sure we are focused in a similar manner and driving housing outcomes. As you know, the mayor has upped our ante from the previous target of about 40,000 units to 65,000 units. All of this is in a focused effort in order to achieve that deliverable.
Hugh Clark has announced his role as Executive Director — was he approached specifically, or did he seek the opportunity out?
He sought it out. I do believe our recruiting firm, probably reached out to him as well, because, of course, he is very a talented individual. But yes, he applied for the role, and we are thrilled he did.
What can you tell me about the rest of the team that's in progress?
Much of the team is moving over from the Housing Secretariat. And they're a combination of folks that have come from private sector and public sector. But there are some positions we are recruiting for. For example, Hugh has two director roles we've rounded out the team with, and he is currently recruiting for, and that's in process.
Can you reveal anyone specifically?
Noah Slater used to be our Director responsible for the housing team at the Housing Secretariat. And the team will be made up of many folks that were under his portfolio. Essentially, anything new and or significantly redevelopment-related, those folks are going to move over to Hugh and his team. And then, if it's about state of good repair, many of those folks will be remaining under the Housing Secretariat.
The City has launched two new divisions in the span of just over a year — Development Review in April 2024, and now the Housing Development Office. Would you say that's unusual?
Absolutely, it is unusual, and it contributes to that roller coaster, where it's been a lot of effort. But it's unusual in the right way, because we are in a housing crisis. And when we look at what's happening in the development industry and how challenging it is to get a development to pencil and make the financials work, this is why we need truly focused and organized teams.
Can you speak a bit more on how Development Review and the Housing Development Office work together?
So Hugh is going to be working very closely with both Valesa and our Chief Building Official Kamal Gogna, and his role is going to be the front end, ensuring we have the right business case in the right prioritized projects being worked on, and then the working with Valesa and Kamal to make sure they are shepherded through the system, and we get occupancy permit as quickly as possible.
Did you consult with development sector stakeholders when forming the Housing Development Office?
We’ve had regular meetings with BILD and RESCON. And what we share is, in principle, the direction we are going. So we would be looking for feedback from them, and much of it has been what we’ve heard in the past, which is the City is too slow, there are inconsistent decisions being made. And so the changes we’ve made directly respond to that critical feedback. And what I'm really happy to say is that narrative is beginning to change, and we actually have our development partners telling us now that, not only are we moving quicker, they're seeing greater consistency. And with Hugh and the Housing Development Office, it's one step further to creating an improved experience, not only for our private sector partners but for our not-for-profit-sector partners as well.
Can you tell us more about the pre-development funds mentioned in the City report?
What we heard from the non-for-profit industry is it's quite expensive, of course, to front the money [to look] at a development application and start to build the business case for it. And so, what we looked at doing is, how do we actually set aside funds to specifically allow them to do so? Now, it's typically in the form of a loan, so once the project is successful and they get the funds they need, in theory, it's repayable. There is some calculated risks we're taking, but what we're trying to directly deal with is the challenge of the non-for-profit — they don't have the same depth of ability as our private sector partners.
What else can you tell us about the Housing Development Office and this time for the City in general?
It's an exciting time — well, maybe the words are scary and exciting. The housing crisis is certainly scary, but what's exciting is the City, with council support and certainly our City Manager, they're investing in a very meaningful way to ensure we're doing the best we can to address the housing crisis. We've got a great pipeline of product as far as the mix of what we can do. Our real challenge right now is ensuring we are continuing to collaborate with the other levels of government to ensure the funding is in place in order to continue the projects that we can get funded and moving. I respect the challenge all levels of government have, because they certainly have a number of priorities, but this is something where Council has invested heavily to ensure we are putting everything we can behind addressing the housing crisis.
Questions and answers have been lightly edited for both length and clarity.
