Toronto is the second Canadian city that is reviewing its housing zoning bylaws enacted by the former Liberal government’s Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF). Earlier this week, it was announced Edmonton city council will be debating aspects of its zoning bylaw that was approved by council in 2023 with a promise of $175 million taxpayer dollars plus bonus money from HAF to allow multi-family homes in communities previously zoned for only single-family homes. Toronto council’s agreement was to allow upwards of six-plex buildings in the rezoned communities, with $471 million from the HAF dangled in front of them to seal the deal. Those funds are now in jeopardy after Toronto’s council approved five-plex and six-plex buildings in only three communities, rather than city-wide. On Wednesday, a Toronto city council vote of 18-to-6 approved leaving the majority of the city’s suburban neighbourhoods out of the six-plex fold, reported on-line real estate portal STOREYS, adding “The motion also included that neighbourhood infrastructure such as street cleaning, public realm maintenance and improvements be provided in neighbourhoods with six-plexes.” Allowing six-plexes city wide was part of Toronto’s 35 milestones in its HAF agreement to permit 60,980 new homes over three years. .Toronto pocketed $117 million upfront from HAF but whether or not it receives the balance of funding in full “hinges on its ability to achieve certain milestones laid out in their HAF Action Plan, including permitting six-plexes city wide by the end of June 2025,” reports STOREYS. A letter to Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow from former Housing Minister Nathaniel Erskine-Smith said the city could lose 25% of its annual HAF payment if it continues to fall behind on milestones. Council’s decision came after a series of studies were conducted to determine the viability of adding multi-family buildings on single-detached lots in the city, including a pilot program testing whether it would be efficient. In Calgary, the contentious blanket upzoning bylaw approved last year has become a battle cry for three of the five candidates running for the mayor’s chair in the Fall election. They include Sonya Sharp, Jeff Davison and Jeromy Farkas all of whom say if elected, they will repeal Calgary’s bylaw. The two other candidates, Brian Thiesen and incumbent Mayor Jyoti Gondek, who voted in favour of the bylaw last year, have not mentioned blanket upzoning in any statements or campaign literature.
