Mitzie Hunter unveils three-point plan to boost parkland, green spaces, and sustainable housing in Toronto

Affordable housing plan provides 17 acres of new green space, including parkettes and playgrounds, plus more green, neighbourhood-friendly buildings including solar-panels, energy conservation heating and cooling to reduce carbon footprint, mayoral candidate says

Toronto – Mitzie Hunter, mayoral candidate, is issuing additional details on how her affordable housing plan delivers more green spaces and more green, neighbourhood-friendly buildings than any other candidate. Hunter’s three-point plan will:

• Provide more than 17 acres of new green space across the city, including 68 parkettes and playgrounds.
• Ensure green building best-practices will be applied in every development in her plan, including solar-panels and energy conservation heating and cooling to help reduce the construction and operating carbon footprint of every building.
• Ensure her affordable buildings are 10, 15 and 20-storey,neighbourhood-friendly buildings surrounded by green space which will beautify and improve the neighbourhoods where they are built.

“We are in a housing crisis and that’s why we need to unlock public lands to build more affordable housing for renters and people who want a chance to buy. We need to build communities that fit in all our neighbourhoods. My plan has 10, 15 and 20 storey family-friendly buildings surrounded by green space which will only improve the neighbourhoods where they are built,” says Hunter.

“We need to do things differently. We need to Fix the Six. And that means building family-friendly buildings including small and medium-sized buildings with more green spaces, more parkettes and more playgrounds in more neighbourhoods. And it means constructing and operating green buildings to leading-edge energy-efficiency and climate resiliency standards.”

Hunter has a five-point plan to deliver more affordable rental and ownership housing that will:

1. Unlock public lands to build more new affordable housing than any other candidate;
2. Make the end of the multiplex ban meaningful by providing incentives to build multiplexes of up to four units in every part of the City;
3. Permit rental apartments of up to eight storeys on major streets and near campuses;
4. Speed up building approvals and construction; and
5. Protect renters and save current affordable housing. 

The centrepiece of Hunters plan is a new Toronto Affordable Housing Corporation (TAHC). Over its first six years, the new TAHC will:

• Build 108 new developmentson City owned land. 

• These developments will be between 10 and 20 storeys and be suitable for small and medium sized lots in every part of the city.

• Deliver nearly 22,700 unitsproviding housing for approximately 53,650 people with 16,556 of these units to be purpose-built rental units. 

• Ensure that the majority of these – 68 per cent -- will be affordable units. 

• The overwhelming majority of units proposed by every other candidate are unaffordable condos or apartments offered at today’s rental rates.

• 80 per cent of Ana Bailao’s proposed units are not affordable housing. 

• 70 per cent of Olivia Chow’s proposed units are not affordable housing. 

• 67 per cent of Brad Bradford’s proposed units are not affordable housing.

• 55 per cent of Josh Matlow’s proposed units are not affordable housing.

• In Phase 1, the TAHC will deliver 11,236 affordable rental apartments.

• This is the most of any candidate. This is 3,736 more than proposed by Olivia Chow and 4,486 more than proposed by Josh Matlow.

• Candidates that support the failed developer-led, status-quo approach offer percentages, not actual numbers of new affordable units. 

• Ana Bailao, Brad Bradford and Mark Saunders all propose only 20 to 33 per cent affordable rental units. 

• Hunter’s TAHC buildings will also be the most family-friendly of any candidate’s proposal.  More than 55 per cent of all units are two and three bedrooms. Other proposals have no more than 40 per cent. 

• Hunter’s TAHC plan will create communities with on-site retail stores, space for community services like libraries and childcare. 

• Hunter’s plan will add more than 17 acres of new parks and green space at 68 sites across the city.

• In Phase 1, there will be 34 new sites with on-site playgrounds for building residents and local neighbours.

• In Phase 1 there will also be 34 new sites with larger parkettesoffering green space, exercise stations and playgrounds for building residents and local neighbours.

• TAHC buildings will also help Toronto reach its goals of greater conservation and lowering our carbon footprint.

• TAHC building design will include best in class energy conservation techniques ranging from optimal insulation and the use of the most efficient doors and windows to the use of highly efficient appliances in all units. 

• Depending on building location and height buildings will have solar panels or green roofs.

In developing her plan, Hunter drew on her experience as CAO of Toronto Community Housing prior to being MPP for Scarborough-Guildwood and a senior cabinet minister.

The other leading candidates who have released housing plans all continue the failed status-quo approach. The majority of units they create are market rentals or unaffordable condos. The majority of units are one bedroom and not fit for families and none offers anything to people looking to buy an affordable home.

In contrast, Hunter’s plan builds more affordable housing units for renters and buyers alike and more than any other plan in family-friendly buildings that can fit into every part of the city, choosing parks over parking lots by adding more greenspace than that proposed by any other candidate.

Hunter’s housing plan is the most detailed, practical and comprehensive plan issued by any mayoral candidate. It is fully costed and will have a net cost of $166 million over the next two years. It is part of her budget plan to be issued before voting begins in June. Additional green space and greener buildings are built in to this cost.

“We can do this, we must do it, and if we are to have a city that works for everyone, everywhere, we must grow the supply of affordable housing for both renters and buyers. Let's grab control of the levers as a city and get it done. My plan does this.”

-30-

Contact:

Charmain Emerson

charmain@culturedcommunications.ca

Remarks by Mitzie Hunter announcing parks and green buildings details of her affordable housing plan, May 16, 2023:

• During this campaign I have steadily unrolled policy that forms the basis of my campaign platform.

• Homelessness… and housing stability.

• TTC safety… so people can feel safe… and be safe.

• Getting Toronto moving again…

• By reversing TTC service cuts… rolling back fare increases…

• And seniors ride free… on the TTC 

• Laying out my TTC construction priorities…

• The Waterfront LRT… the North York Scarborough subway…

• The Eglinton East LRT extension, and… 

• A transitional dedicated busway in Scarborough… until the subway extension is built.

• Fighting back.. against food insecurity.

• All this, and I am committed to issuing a full costing in a budget before voting starts in June. 

• I am putting forward my plan in a steady, deliberate and principled way…

• So that when people vote for me… they know exactly what they are getting if they elect me as their mayor.

• Today…  I'm here to talk about my housing plan.

• It's very different from what has been tried… and what has not worked here in Toronto for many years.

• We have to do better… by doing things differently. 

• As I said at the Daily Bread Food Bank debate last night…

• If you think everything is going just fine in Toronto… then you should vote for someone else.

• I repeat… If you think everything's going well, vote for someone else.

• But I see what you see.

• That’s why… we must change the track Toronto is on.

• You know it… I know it.
• For the city we love… it means we need to do things differently.

• So we can get the results people need… and deserve. 

• I’m focused on making sure… that Toronto is a city that works… for everyone… Everywhere.

• From Scarborough… to Etobicoke… to North York… to downtown… and everywhere in between. 

• A city that works.... for you.

• In this election… Let’s choose to do better.

• I’m running for mayor… because I want to lead Toronto’s revival…

• As a city that works for everyone… everywhere.

• Let’s Fix the Six… together.

• Last week I presented my centrepiece policy which is… affordable housing.

• A five-point plan for more affordable housing, more quickly.

• My detailed and practical five-point plan will:

• Unlock public lands for more new affordable housing…

• End the multiplex ban…

• Add rental apartments on major streets and near campuses

• Speed up… building approvals and construction…

• Protect… renters and save current affordable housing.

• Today… I am issuing further details of my affordable housing plan…

• Centred on green spaces… and green buildings… 

• Buildings that are neighbourhood-friendly.

• My three-point plan will:

• One… Provide more than 17 acres of new green spaceacross the city, including 68 parkettes and playgrounds.

• Two… Ensure green-building best-practices will be applied in every development in my plan… 

• Including solar-panels… and energy conservation heating and cooling… 

• To help reduce the carbon footprint of constructing… and operating… every building in my plan.

• Three… Ensure…. that the scale of my affordable buildings are 10, 15 and 20-storey neighbourhood-friendly buildings…

• Buildings surrounded by green space… which will beautify and improve the neighbourhoods where they are built.

• We are in a housing crisis… and that’s why we need to unlock public lands to build more affordable housing… for renters and people who want a chance to buy.

• We need to do things differently. We need to Fix the Six.

• And that means building greener, family-friendly buildings.

• Small and medium-sized buildings… with more green spaces… more parkettes… and more playgrounds… in moreneighbourhoods.

• And it means constructing and operating green buildings to leading-edge energy-efficiency… and climate resiliency standards. 

• You know, Olivia Chow admitted at the Daily Bread Food Bank debate that her housing proposal only promises 10,000 units, not nearly enough.

• And she said.. "it's better than nothing".

• Well, I say it is simply not good enough, and much closer to nothing than what is actually needed.

• People need more than that, they expect more than that, and saying her proposal is better than nothing is insulting.

• It runs away from even trying to get the results that are required… right now… if we are going to make a dent on making housing affordable for people in our city. 

• In my plan, in the first six years, we will build 108 new developments on City-owned land.

• I will deliver 22,700 units… providing housing for 53,650 people… with 16,556 of these units … to be purpose-built rental units.

• I will deliver more affordable housing… quicker, than any other candidate. 

• My affordable housing plan means new solutions.

• Thousands of shared-equity homes so people can buy. 

• Thousands of homes for renters, more than any other candidate. 

• More laneway and garden suites with fast approvals.

• Spreading out density with new apartment buildings of up to eight storeys along major streets. 

• Other candidates all continue the failed status quo approach.

• Their buildings are all too big for most neighbourhoods. 

• Forty-storey building that don’t fit in any neighbourhood. 

• The majority of their units are market rentals or unaffordable condos.

• The majority of their units are one bedroom and not fit for families.

• They don’t offer anything for people looking to buy an affordable home.

• My plan builds more affordable housing units for renters and buyers alike… more than any other plan… in greener, family friendly buildings with more parks that can fit into every part of the city.

• My plan represents a complete change in how to get it done so we, the people of Toronto, can control the delivery of affordable homes for real results.  

• We have to do things differently… same old, same old isn't working and everyone knows that. Let's choose to do better. 

• You can find all the details on the Toronto Affordable Housing Corporation, how it works and how it will deliver for people, in my 23-page background document.

• My plan is the most detailed, practical, and comprehensive plan issued by any mayoral candidate.

• My plan draws on my experience as CAO of Toronto Community Housing prior to being MPP for Scarborough-Guildwood and a senior cabinet minister.

• Detailed, practical, comprehensive. My plan gets the job done.

• My plan is fully-costed with a net cost of $166 million over the next two years. I am committed to present a detailed and credible budget before voting starts in June.
• We can do this, and we must do it, and if we are to have a city that works for everyone, everywhere, we must grow the supply of affordable housing for renters and owners alike, and not just hope creating the conditions for that is enough.

• The verdict is in - it hasn't worked. And everybody knows it. So let's grab control of the levers as a city and get it done.

• The City has to be the quarterback when it comes to affordable housing. We can’t leave it to the developers.

• The City has to lead when it comes to affordable housing. We can’t leave it to the developers.
• The City has to be the designer, the project champion and ultimately the building owner, to deliver more, new affordable housing, more quickly, for the people who need it most. 

• Toronto is at a turning point, we can’t let it become a breaking point… I want to turn Toronto around for the better.

• Toronto needs a new leader… with broader experience… and a fresh perspective -- not the same faces from the same places. 

• It’s time we bring more people on the outside… to the inside of City Hall.

• That’s who I am… and what I’ve done.

• In Scarborough… In business… At Toronto housing... And as cabinet minister in really tough portfolios.

• Let’s choose to do better.

• That’s why I am running for mayor. 

• Because I want to lead Toronto’s revival as a city that works for everyone, everywhere.

• Join me. I ask for your support.

• Let’s Fix the Six… Together.

END