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Hi <<First Name>>,

With the upcoming municipal election and vote on multiplexes at City Hall [if you haven’t already sent a letter to your councillor this is your sign], there is a lot going on, but we thought that we would start with a reminder that consultations on individual developments will be going on for another couple of months and need pro-housing voices!

Public Consultations

We know that this can be intimidating, but it doesn’t have to be! The more supportive people who are in the room, the easier it is. You also don’t need to say anything profound or detailed – at my first consultation all I said was “I’m a Toronto resident, and I support this development”. That’s it! You might find this livetweet we did of a recent consultation helpful, too.

This week we have what I like to call a SUPER TUESDAY, with four consultations in a single evening. The good news? You just need to attend one! The one closest to you, or in the neighbourhood you work in/go to school in, maybe the one you grew up in or one you’d love to live in.

The run down for Tuesday, May 9 consultations:

• 2760 Dundas St W is a little 6-storey, 28-unit condo building with ground floor retail in the Junction. It’s the site of the former Peacock Hotel. It’s got some cool design, like an automatic car stacking system to maximize parking, meaning they’ll only have to dig down one level - this is good for both environmental and cost/timeline reasons. This is a good consult to attend to support smart, low-mid rise development. Online from 6 - 8 pm, Ward 4 Parkdale-High Park, Register.

• 1265 Wilson Rd is PURPOSE-BUILT RENTAL (PBR). Coming in at 27 storeys, if built as proposed it will supply over 500 units of much-needed rental housing to Downsview. This would be replacing a smaller existing rental building so there are units earmarked for rental replacement – please be mindful of this, and supportive of comments coming from existing tenants. If you think Toronto needs more PBR, this is a great consultation to attend to make that known! Online from 6:30 - 8 pm, Ward 6 York Centre, Register.

• Coming in at 94 storeys and over 1200 units, 19 Bloor St W is the undisputed heavyweight in this week’s consultations. With only four elevators proposed, it’s worth asking whether a larger floor plate would allow for more and make residents’ lives easier. Given that it is literally steps from two subway stations, this is the kind of consultation where suggestions about eliminating parking spots, electric vehicle charging, car- and bike-share might come up. Online from 6:30 - 8 pm, Ward 11 University Rosedale, Register.

• Finally, an IN-PERSON consultation in at 1830 Weston Rd, part of a two-tower, transit-oriented project. It is walking distance to Weston GO/UP Station, which means residents will be a 15-minute ride to Union or Pearson. Like 19 Bloor, I would expect low parking ratios! Here you can ask about public space, affordable units, and family-sized units. In person from 7 - 8:30 pm, Ward 5 York South - Weston, at the Learning Enrichment Foundation (LEF), 116 Industry Street.

In attending consultations, do remember to listen and to be respectful to those you disagree with – getting into arguments with staff or other attendees doesn’t help get more housing built!

If you’re feeling a bit nervous, you can join us on the Discord (we generally have a thread going), or send a letter to the councillor and the planner afterward.

Looking forward to hearing some of you at consults soon! For future consults keep an eye on the City of Toronto website

Multiplexes on to Council

Toronto’s Planning and Housing Committee met on April 27, including an update on the City’s Housing Now initiative (it’s behind) and a great deputation on how challenging it is for not-for-profit builders to build. Earlier in the day, the Housing Now site out at Kipling got some much-needed adjustments, including a reduction from 343 to 199 parking spaces that could reduce costs by ~$12 million and make the project viable to build. Because this site was approved more recently, it has better accounted for the higher interest rates that are delaying many of the earlier sites, which now need to be rezoned.

But the key item was the Final Report on Multiplexes. This report included some changes from the initial report. We were highly in favour of these changes, namely elimination of floor space index (FSI) and increasing building depth to 19 m for lots of appropriate size.

And here’s where we need to say thank you. When we sent out an action request, you delivered. By our count, over 600 of you used our template to send letters of support to Committee members. Additionally, several of you came out to depute and you can see some clips of the deputations in favour of multiplexes on our YouTube.

In the end, the item was passed with minimal amendments and the key recommendations intact. A shoutout to rookie councillor Jamaal Myers who pushed things even further for his ward, suggesting studies of up to 6 units and larger envelopes on all lots.

BUT our work is not quite done. This item will be reviewed at the May 10 Council meeting for final approval and you can contact your city councillor and let them know you want this, if you haven’t already done so.

Mayoral candidate analysis to come

Torontonians go back to the polls on June 26 to vote in a new mayor out of the 73 (and counting) hopefuls. We will be sending out a questionnaire, examining records on housing and cover the key housing-related topics and priorities facing our city. Stay tuned for that after registration closes and feel free to join us on Discord if you want to contribute to the analysis.

Additionally, there are plans for several housing-related debates. Daily Bread Food Bank and other partners will be hosting a debate focused on affordability on May 15, 6:30 pm. Tickets are sold out but you can find the livestream link here. More Neighbours is partnering with RESCON and a number of other organizations for a housing-related debate on May 24th at 7 pm.

More Neighbours in the News

• As promised, we were able to snag a recording of Eric’s panel with Dr. Sacha Bhatia and Toronto Region Board of Trade CEO Jan DeSilva on “Housing in the GTA: What’s at Stake” put on by Habitat for Humanity GTA, Generation Squeeze and the Aga Khan Council for Canada’s Future Ready Initiative.

• The C.D. Howe Institute used More Neighbours Toronto to illustrate that groups ”are pressing provinces to increase the minimum allowed density that cities can enact”.

• More Neighbours volunteer Pirawin Namasivayam was profiled by the CBC in “Metrolinx land sold to developers must include affordable housing, advocates say”.

Until next time,

Colleen Bailey and Talia Pankewycz,

More Neighbours Toronto