HousingAffordable homes. Built for you. Built for our city.

Toronto is facing an evolving housing crisis, impacting housing affordability for low-income, vulnerable residents including people experiencing homelessness, as well as key workers and middle-income earners.

City Council’s HousingTO 2020-2030 Action Plan aims to approve 65,000 rent-controlled homes (including 6,500 rent-geared-to-income (RGI), 41,000 affordable rental and 17,500 rent-controlled market homes) by 2030.

By applying a strategic, city-wide lens to Toronto’s real estate holdings, CreateTO is unlocking the potential of City-owned lands to be activated for the public good, including the delivery of more affordable housing, through a suite of programs and policies.

Toronto Builds

In 2025, Toronto City Council adopted Toronto Builds - a new policy framework to guide the development of a range of new rental homes within mixed-income communities on City land.

The Toronto Builds Policy Framework includes specific requirements for housing developments on City-land, including but not limited to:

• Projects on City-owned land will deliver projects with the residential component being 100% purpose-built rental housing in tenure,

• A minimum of 30% of residential units must be affordable rental housing with no individual project providing less than 20% affordable rental housing,

• Affordable rental homes must meet the City’s Rental Housing Supply Program definition of affordable rental housing, which aligns with the City’s Official Plan income-based definition,

• Affordability must be maintained for a minimum of 40 years and for the duration of any lease,

• All affordable rental homes must be rent-controlled at the Provincial Rent Increase Guideline as set annually by the Province, up to the maximum allowable affordable rent,

• City-owned land will be retained in public ownership and will be developed by offering 40 to 99-year leases to developers and/or operators,

• 20% of new affordable rental homes, and 15% of market rental homes, must be accessible, meeting Ontario Building Code requirements for barrier-free.

CreateTO has also identified key opportunities to deliver affordable housing on other City-owned sites including the former Toronto Coach Terminal.

Housing Now

Adopted by Toronto City Council in 2019, the Housing Now Initiative invested in City-owned lands across Toronto for the development of affordable housing within mixed-income, mixed-use, transit-oriented communities where every individual has the chance to thrive. 

Succeeded by the Toronto Builds Policy Framework, Housing Now identified City-owned sites that could be redeveloped to create a mix of affordable rental, market rental and ownership housing options serving Toronto residents. Several CreateTO projects were advanced through the Housing Now Initiative and are currently under construction. Similar to Toronto Builds projects, these new affordable rental homes will remain so for 99 years, providing quality affordable housing for future generations.

Modular Housing

CreateTO is a partner in delivering the Modular Housing Initiative – part of the City’s HousingTO 2020-2030 Action Plan and an innovative and cost-effective way to build small-scale infill housing. This will provide a rapid, dignified response to connect people experiencing homelessness with homes and the appropriate supports to help them achieve housing stability.

Expanding Housing Options in Neighbourhoods (EHON)

The primary focus of the EHON initiative, including the Beaches-East York Pilot Project on Amroth Avenue, is the expansion of market housing options, in a range of formats, within the City’s neighbourhoods. While this work will not necessarily result in the creation of affordable housing supply, it will result in a more diverse range of housing forms to support residents with a much broader range of incomes and household compositions at various stages of life.

Applying for Affordable Rental Housing

Current opportunities for affordable rental housing can be found on the City of Toronto website.

The current process is an interim approach used by both private, non-profit and co-operative housing providers.  The City of Toronto is creating a new Centralized Access System for Affordable Rental Housing. This future system will provide a single, consistent way for residents to apply.