Toronto City Council has approved a housing pledge that will help to "achieve or exceed" Ontario's goal of building 285K new homes in the city by 2031.
Outlined in a staff report approved by Council on May 10, Toronto's Municipal Housing Pledge will be achieved through the city's Housing Action Plan 2022-2026 and HousingTO 2020-2030 Action Plan.
The City plans to implement a number of actions and strategies to meet what it called an "ambitious goal," including leveraging public land to increase the supply of housing, intensification of major growth areas, and preserving the existing rental housing stock.
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The target of 285K new homes by 2031 represents a 23% increase to Toronto's housing supply. To meet the goal, 31,050 homes must be completed each year, approximately double the average number of units the city built annually between 2017 and 2021.
The municipal target contributes to Ontario’s overarching goal of building 1.5M new homes across the province by 2031.
The City noted that while adopting the pledge is a significant step towards delivering new homes, there are also factors outside of its control that affect construction. Such details require support from other levels of government, as well as the "active participation" of the development sector and communities.
"This Housing Pledge demonstrates that the City of Toronto is serious about getting more housing built as quickly as possible," Deputy Mayor Jennifer McKelvie said in a release.
"We are demonstrating to all orders of government, stakeholders, and community leaders that we are doing everything we can to achieve and exceed the completion of 285,000 homes."
