Helen Lam | Contributor
Featured image courtesy of Regenesis at York
Shelter is a human right. It shouldn’t be difficult to ensure that one has a roof under which to sleep every night. However, in reality, it’s a right many people are unable to exercise. With supply failing to keep up with the city’s demand for residences from a growing population, the housing crisis in Toronto remains largely unaddressed.
The province’s legislation passed in December 2017 for inclusionary zoning offers too many advantages for developers to genuinely help the situation. Costs to purchase homes are skyrocketing, driving millennials with marketable skills out of the city. Furthermore, over the past two decades, affordable housing programs have faced funding cuts. As of the end of January, the waitlist for affordable housing in Ontario is at an unprecedented number of approximately 200,000 households and the wait for subsidized housing is roughly 8.4 years.
Recognizing this pressing need for housing, especially in dense urban areas where rent is particularly costly, the Affordable Housing Committee (AHC), a group at York University founded in 2016, is conducting research and creating a plan to provide housing that York University students and staff can actually afford. AHC’s goal is for the affordable housing infrastructure to be established by 2024.
At meetings with the York University Development Corporation (which is in charge of real-estate of the university’s lands) and with other executives, the committee has gained support for the initiative. The housing development consultant for the project is Tim Welch who collaborates closely with CMHC, the City of Toronto and the Ministry of Housing, and has assisted in numerous similar construction plans that have seen completion.
According to their website, their goals include, but aren’t limited to: “secure a land agreement with York University; submit a Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) Seed Funding application; begin the real estate development process; and submit an entry to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation Student Challenge for Affordable Rental Housing.”
With the help of the consulting firm, AHC has prepared a business layout for two 12-storey buildings consisting of mainly one-bedroom and some two-bedroom apartments to be situated at 135 Pond Road near York University Keele Campus with convenient access to public transportation such as the subway.
The group’s sponsors include York Federation of Student (YFS), York University Faculty Association (YUFA), York University Staff Association (YUSA), CUPE 3903, York University Graduate Students Association (YUGSA), Regenesis York and OPIRG York. In October 2018, AHC will submit a referendum for an annual student levy of $650,000.
Third-year concurrent education and human resources student, Daniela Priore, talks about the benefits that she believes affordable housing will breed: “This initiative can reduce time associated with commuting to/from school, help community members experience living on their own, and create an opportunity for members to meet new people.”
AHC’s project is envisioned to contribute to positive change for low-income families for which the current average market rent is beyond their reach. Its accomplishments can serve as a model to inspire other transformations in Canada where property ownership is ridiculously expensive. AHC is optimistic that its creative efforts will be a step forward in terms of social justice for the North York community members, especially the economically underprivileged people who are struggling to find a place to stay that is within their financial capacity to acquire.
