Mitzie Hunter issues Tenant Protection Plan creating more affordable rental options, more rental housing, and enhanced protections for renters

Thousands of purpose-built below-market rate rental apartments, new protections for renters including better compliance enforcement, a new Tenant Advocate, mayoral candidate says

Toronto – Mitzie Hunter, mayoral candidate, will create more city-owned affordable rental housing than any other candidate, providing greater protections for existing tenants, saving at risk-rental buildings and providing the most comprehensive level of tenant protections ever seen in Toronto.

“We are in a housing crisis and that’s why we need to unlock public lands to build more affordable rental housing. We need to marshal the full resources of the City to level the playing field between renters and landlords to protect tenant rights and save at risk-rental buildings.” says Hunter.

“We need to do things differently. We need to Fix the Six. And that means treating the 50 per cent of our residents who live in rental homes with more respect and more dignity. A home should be a place of safety, security, promise and possibility. As your Mayor I will not just see you, I will fight for you.”

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

1. Unlock public lands to build more new affordable housing than any other candidate;
2. End the multiplex ban to allow for more affordable housing including new rental housing in low-rise 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 centrepieces of Hunters plan are a new Toronto Affordable Housing Corporation (TAHC) and a Tenant Advocate and Rental Housing Integrity Unit to protect tenants.

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. Other candidates’ proposals rely on massive buildings of 40 storeys or more.

• 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, unlike every other candidate’s proposal, the majority of these – 68 per cent -- will be affordable units with rents at or below the Average Market Rent (AMR) reported by the CMHC. 

• Ensure that there will be 11,236 affordable rental apartments. This is the most of any candidate.

o   5,660 units will be offered at AMR

o   3,468 units will be offered at 80 per cent of AMR

o   2,108 units will be set at 40 per cent of AMR

o   34 per cent of all rental units will be below AMR which is the highest share of any candidate.

• Ensure all rentals on City-owned land will be subject to annual rent control limitsand advocate to the Province to bring rent control back to all units.
• Ensure the lowest average rents of any candidates:

o   The average rent for a TAHC three-bedroom apartment will be $2,159 monthly.

o   The average rents for a TAHC two-bedroom apartment will be $1,900 monthly.

o   The average rents for the TAHC Studio and one-bedroom apartments will be $1,535 monthly. 

• 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 be communities with on-site retail stores, space for community services like libraries and childcare and parks and green space.

• Hunter’s plan is also laser-focused on protecting current tenants.

o   Many older owners of established rental buildings consider selling as they consider retirement. Others look to selling when the costs of maintenance or repair become more than they are prepared to manage.

o   To protect these building and keep them as rental units, the plan will provide, for the next two years, a $50-million annual increase for the Multi-Unit Residential Acquisition program drawn from the Land Acquisition Reserve.

o   These funds will be used to support the purchase, renovation and operation of rental properties by non-profit housing providers, co-ops and land trusts and ensure 20 per cent of projects are dedicated to Indigenous housing organizations.

• Protect tenants facing eviction by Increasing eviction prevention services by expanding the Eviction Prevention in the Community (EPIC) Programwhich supports vulnerable rental households to maintain their homes by adding six new staff outreach positions and also triple the Rent Bank to 15 million per year.

• Ensure that City Hall and its resources are on the side of tenants: 

o   Create a Tenant Advocate role in the Legal Services division to help tenants fight illegal rent increases and fraudulent evictions.

o   This unit will have an annual budget of $5 million and it will be supported by 25 new Municipal Licensing & Standards inspectors in a new Rental Housing Integrity Unit with an annual budget of $4.5 million. 

• Ensure the health and safety of rental units – both in condos and purpose built rental buildings  --  will be protected: 

o   Hire 15 more building inspectors to increase building code monitoring and fines for property standard violations in condos and apartment buildings, including elevator and appliance repair, temperature control and pests.

o   Funding for this will come from the Building Code Act Service Improvement Reserve.

Hunter’s Tenant Protection agenda will cost a net of $18.5 million per year. It is part of her fully-costed budget that she will present well before voting begins in June.

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. Their buildings are all too big for most neighbourhoods. 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.

Hunter’s Tenant Protection Plan levels the playing field giving tenants a dedicated champion at City Hall.

Hunter’s housing plan is the most detailed, practical and comprehensive plan issued by any mayoral candidate as well as being fully-costed and part of her budget plan to be issued before voting begins in June.

“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.”

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Contact:

Charmain Emerson

charmain@culturedcommunications.ca

Remarks by Mitzie Hunter announcing her Affordable Housing and Rental Protection plan, May 11, 2023:

• Thank you for coming.

• During this campaign I have steadily unrolled policy planks that form my campaign platform.

• Mental health and addiction.

• Homelessness and housing stability.

• Youth mental wellness and homelessness.

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

• Getting Toronto moving again by reversing TTC service cuts, rolling back fare increases, and free fares for seniors and Wheel Trans users.

• Laying out my TTC construction priorities including the Waterfront LRT, North York Scarborough subway, Eglinton East LRT extension. A transitional dedicated busway in Scarborough until the subway extension is built.

• Ontario Place… and my four tests for redevelopment which the current private spa proposal does not pass. 

• The Ontario Science Centre and opposing the Provincial plan to demolish it.

• 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.

• On Monday I presented my centrepiece policy which is affordable housing. 

• It is a five-point plan for more affordable housing, more quickly.

• My detailed and practical five-point plan will:

o   Unlock public lands for more new affordable housing

o   End the multiplex ban in order to create affordable housing

o   Add rental apartments on major streets and near campuses

o   Speed up building approvals and construction

o   Protect renters and save current affordable housing.

• On Tuesday I announced details of one of the main elements of my plan which is creating a Toronto Affordable Housing Corporation. 

• Today I am announcing details of my Tenant Protection Plan.

• My plan will create more city-owned affordable rental housing than any other candidate.

• It will provide greater protections for existing tenants to save at risk rental buildings and to provide the most comprehensive level of tenant protections ever seen in Toronto.

• We are in a housing crisis and that’s why we need to unlock public lands to build more affordable rental housing. 

• We also need to marshal the full resources of the City to level the playing field between renters and landlords to protect tenant rights and save at risk rental buildings.

• We need to do things differently. We need to Fix the Six. And that means treating the 50 per cent of our residents who live in rental homes with more respect and more dignity.

• My plan is laser focused on protecting current tenants. 

• Many older owners of established rental buildings consider selling as they approach retirement. 

• Others look to selling when the costs of maintenance or repair become more than they are prepared to manage.

• We cannot afford to lose these rental buildings. 

• To protect these building and keep them as rental units, I will provide for the next two years a $50 million annual increase for the Multi-Unit Residential Acquisition program, drawn from the City’s Land Acquisition Reserve.

• These funds will be used to support the purchase, renovation and operation of rental properties by non-profit housing providers, co-ops and land trusts. 

• I will ensure 20 per cent of projects are dedicated to Indigenous housing organizations.

• To protect tenants facing eviction I will increase eviction prevention services by expanding the Eviction Prevention in the Community (EPIC) Program. 

• This will support vulnerable rental households to maintain their homes by adding six new staff outreach positions.

• I will also triple the Rent Bank to 15 million per year. As MPP for Scarborough-Guildwood I know that the most vulnerable rely on use of rent bank to stay housed when they have nowhere else to turn.

• As mayor, I will make sure that City Hall and its resources are on the side of tenants.

• I will create a Tenant Advocaterole in the Legal Services division to help tenants fight illegal rent increases and fraudulent evictions.

• This unit will have an annual budget of $5 million and it will be supported by 25 new Municipal Licensing & Standards inspectorsin a new Rental Housing Integrity Unit with an annual budget of $4.5 million.

• Finally, the health and safety of rental units – both in condos and purpose built rental buildings  --  will be protected. 

• State of good repair in units is important to tenants. I will hire 15 more building inspectors to increase building code monitoring and fines for property standard violations in condos and apartment buildings, including elevator and appliance repair, temperature control and pests. Funding for this will come from the Building Code Act Service Improvement Reserve. 

• My Tenant Protection agenda will cost a net of $18.5 million per year.

• It is part of my fully-costed budget that I will present well before voting begins in June. 

• A home should be a place of safety, security, promise and possibility.

• As your Mayor I will not just see you, I will fight for you.

• The centrepieces of my affordable housing plan are the new Toronto Affordable Housing Corporation (TAHC) and aTenant Advocate and Rental Housing Integrity Unit to protect tenants. 

• Over its first six years, the new TAHC will build 108 new developmentson City owned land.

• These will be between 10 and 20 storeys and be suitable for small and medium sized lots in every part of the City. Other candidates’ proposals rely on massive buildings of 40 storeys or more.

• I will deliver nearly 22,700 unitsproviding housing for approximately 53,650 people with 16,556 of these units being purpose built rental units. 

• Unlike every other candidate’s proposal, the majority of these – 68 per cent -- will be affordable units with rents at or below the Average Market Rent (AMR) reported by the CMHC.

• In total there will be 11,236 affordable rental apartments. This is the most of any candidate.

• The minority of all units will be market rental units. These 5,320 units will be subject to annual rent controllimits.

• I will also ensure all rentals on City land are subject to annual rent control limitsand advocate to the Province to bring rent control back to all units.

• The TAHC proposal is the most detailed model so far released by any candidate. And it has the lowest average rents.

• The average rent for a TAHC three-bedroom apartment will be $2,159 monthly.

• No other mayoral candidate can match this.

• We know 70 per cent of Olivia Chow’s units will charge full market rent we know most people renting one of her three-bedroom units will be paying $3,000 based on current asking rents.

• For Josh Matlow, 55 per cent will be market rent units so most of his three-bedroom units will also be in the range of $3,000 per month.

• The average rents for a TAHC two-bedroom apartment will be $1,900 monthly.

• Because we know 70 per cent of Olivia Chow’s units will charge full market rent, we know most people renting one of her two-bedroom units will be paying $2,700 based on current asking rents.

• For Josh Matlow, 55 per cent will be market rent units so most of his two-bedroom units will also be in the range of $2,700 per month.

• The average rents for the TAHC Studio and one-bedroom apartments will be $1,535 monthly.

• Because we know 70 per cent of Olivia Chow’s units will charge full market rent, we know most people renting one of her one-bedroom units will be paying $2,400 based on current asking rents.

• For Josh Matlow, 55 per cent will be market rent units so most of his one-bedroom units will also be in the range of $2,400 per month.

• For renters the choice is clear on price alone.

• But my TAHC buildings will also be the most family-friendlyof 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.

• And they will be communities with on-site retail stores, space for community services like libraries and childcare and parks and green space.

• You are no doubt aware that on Wednesday, Council voted to end the multiplex ban.

• This is the right move for the city. One of many changes needed. 

• And it should also be designed to produce affordable housing, the number one issue in this mayoralty campaign.

• That's why my Affordable Housing plan includes up to $100,000 in forgivable low-interest loans for the cost of renovations or additions to create multiplexes. 

• It is modelled on the City’s Housing Initiatives Laneway Suites program, and the annual payment will be forgivable every year that the unit is rented at below average rent.

• In developing my Affordable Housing plan, I drew on my 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.

• Their buildings are all too big for most neighbourhoods.

• 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 nobody offers anything to people looking to buy an affordable home.

• In contrast, my plan builds more affordable housing units for renters and buyers alike than any other plan in family friendly buildings that can fit into every part of the city.

• My Tenant Protection Plan levels the playing fieldgiving tenants a dedicated champion at City Hall.

• 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 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 the 23-page background document I issued on Monday.

• 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.

• 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.

• But that won’t happened with the same faces from the same places, unsuccessfully doing the same things they have always done, with a complete lack of results for the people of this city.

• That isn't good enough and must change. Otherwise, the city will keep going backwards. 

• But we can choose instead to get going right way to actually build affordable housing.

• Everybody knows it's a priority for our city. It is my priority too. 

• The Toronto we want is where young people who grow up here can afford to live here.

• Where we can all get to where we need to go – safely.

• Where we all get the services we need – no matter who we are or where we live.
• With fixed housing, fixed transit, fixed services.

• This campaign is about Toronto. It’s about time. Time for change. Time for action.

• Join me… because it’s time to Fix the Six together.

• It’s time we bring more people on the outside to the insideof 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.

• Fresh eyes. New solutions.

• Same faces from the same place will not fix the mess we are in.

• We need to Fix the Six.

• Let’s choose to do better.

• That’s why I am running for mayor.
• I’m running for mayor, because I want to lead Toronto’s revival as a city that works for everyone, everywhere.

End