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Mitzie Hunter issues plan for more childcare centres at sites developed by TAHC

New affordable housing developments to be integrated family-friendly communities including delivery of childcare, library services, youth hubs, and family health care

Toronto – Mitzie Hunter, mayoral candidate, says her plan for more affordable housing will mean integrated family-friendly communities that include more childcare and library facilities. 

Under Hunter’s plan, her new developments will be leaders in green construction and operation and will provide 68 new parkettes and playgrounds across the city and will provide 74 new satellite offices for the delivery of services by Toronto Public Health and Toronto Public Library services.

Hunter is now issuing further details of her plan, saying her affordable developments will house 34 new childcare centres and an additional 34 Toronto Public Library satellite branches.

“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,” says Hunter.

“We need to build communities that fit in all our neighbourhoods. That’s why I am proposing small to medium-sized buildings in family-friendly communities. More childcare and library facilities are an essential part of my plan.” 

Here is how Hunter’s plan works:

 

  • Space for 34 new childcare centres will be provided to serve the children of the building and surrounding community.

 

  • In co-ordination with Toronto Public Library, these spaces may also include new youth hubs to offer welcoming drop-in places for teens after school and in the summer months.

 

  • Toronto Public Health nurses will also be able to use these spaces to deliver Family Health services including supports for preconception, pregnancy, newborn, child, youth, parental, and family health programs including, breastfeeding clinics, healthy sexual health promotion and education; positive partnering sessions and supports; and child and youth oral health screening and treatment programs. 

 

Hunter says on-site childcare centres are a crucial aspect of her plan for more affordable housing.

There is a huge demand for additional childcare spaces, especially now that the federal government is putting in place a Canada-wide early learning and childcare plan that is affordable, accessible and high quality.  

Hunter’s planned Toronto Affordable Housing Corporation (TAHC) buildings will dovetail with this approach, offering the opportunity to add childcare centres throughout the city, particularly in areas where high demand is not being met. 

“The simple truth is that demand for childcare is outstripping supply,” says Hunter. “High quality and affordable childcare is good for parents and for their children. It’s a social, economic and developmental triple win.”

There are huge benefits with publicly-managed, not-for-profit childcare, says Hunter. “My plan will help by providing new locations city-wide.”

Hunter says we need to do things differently.

“We need to Fix the Six. And that means building family friendly buildings surrounded by green space, playgrounds and parks. Building that that will also house critical City Public Health, library and childcare services. The result will be integrated, family-friendly communities with more affordable housing that any other candidate.”

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

  • Unlock public lands to build more new affordable housing than any other candidate;
  • 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;
  • Permit rental apartments of up to eight storeys on major streets and near campuses;
  • Speed up building approvals and construction; and
  • 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 these68 per cent -- will be affordable units.

In contrast, 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 Anna 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 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.

Hunter’s housing plan is the most detailed, practical and comprehensive plan issued by any mayoral candidate. It is fully-costed with 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 this, 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,” says Hunter. “We need to Fix the Six together.”

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Contact:

Charmain Emerson charmain@culturedcommunications.ca

Remarks by Mitzie Hunter announcing satellite libraries and chilcare details of her affordable housing plan, May 19, 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. 
  • Fighting back.. against food insecurity.
  • My plan for arts and culture in Toronto.
  • 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 affordable housing plan… Again.
  • Because people across Toronto keep telling me that the lack of affordable housing in our city is their biggest concern. 
  • People are worried. They don't know if they can continue to live here, let alone whether their children will be able to stay as they get older. 
  • So I'm going to continue through these next six weeks to talk about what we must do to add more affordable housing.
  • It is so important. 
  • I have put forward a five-point plan for more affordable housing, more quickly.
  • My detailed and practical 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.
  • My affordable housing buildings will include 74 new satellite offices for the delivery of services by Toronto Public Health… and Toronto Public Library services.
  • Under my plan, affordable developments will house 34 new childcare centres and an additional 34 Toronto Public Library satellite branches. 
  • These spaces may also include new Youth Hubs… offering welcoming drop-in places for teens after school and in the summer months. 
  • Toronto Public Health nurses will also be able to use these spaces to deliver Family Health services.
  • Things like pregnancy and newborn programs… and breastfeeding clinics.
  • We are in a housing crisis. 
  • That’s why we need to unlock public lands to build more affordable housing… for renters and people who want a chance to buy.
  • My vision is that build communities that fit in all our neighbourhoods.
  • That’s why I am proposing small to medium-sized buildings in family-friendly communities… surrounded by green space, playgrounds and parks.
  • More on-site childcare centres are an essential part of my plan.
  • There is a huge demand for additional childcare spaces.
  • This is especially so now that the federal government is putting in place a Canada-wide early learning and childcare plan that is affordable… accessible… and high quality.
  • Under my plan… Toronto Affordable Housing Corporation buildings will dovetail with this approach.
  • They will offer the opportunity to add childcare centres throughout the city… particularly in areas where high demand is not being met. 
  • The simple truth is that demand for childcare is outstripping supply.
  • High quality and affordable childcare is good for parents… and good for their children.
  • It’s a social, economic and developmental triple win.
  • My view is that there are huge benefits with publicly-managed, not-for-profit childcare.
  • My Toronto Affordable Housing Corporation buildings are city buildings.
  • Publicly-managed, not-for-profit childcare is a perfect fit.
  • My plan will help by providing new locations city-wide.
  • If you need affordable housing… and you need affordable childcare, my plan is for you.
  • We need to do things differently. We need to Fix the Six.
  • 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…
  • The 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.
  • We can do this, and we must do it. 
  • 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.

 

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