Homelessness. Everybody wakes up housed. Shelters are available for temporary and transitional uses, including for refugees, those experiencing homelessness and addictions, and those experiencing domestic violence. We allow encampments on public land while working to make them unnecessary. Unhoused neighbours have wrap-around services and the means and options to truly make a choice about where to live. Those living in encampments are offered options for shelter that meet their needs, rather than being pushed off to another encampment or out of sight. 

Housing types. A wide variety of housing types are allowed to be built as-of-right across the region’s entire urban area, including multifamily homes, lodging homes, rental, and mid-rise apartments. High-rise apartment buildings are built close to major transit stations, with a portion of this increased density earmarked for affordable housing to replace homes that would be lost. We have removed zoning restrictions that prevent gentle density, such as parking minimums, minimum lot sizes, yard setbacks, and restrictions on single-stair building designs. New buildings are built with climate resilience in mind, including energy efficiency, insulation, renewable energy, and integration with district heating and cooling. There are a wide variety of homes available in each neighbourhood, meeting the needs of people from a young age, to being a single adult, to growing families, to retirement. People are able to move between different housing types without losing the connections that they’ve made in their immediate neighbourhood. Housing is built to be accessible, and grants and loans are available to retrofit existing buildings to be accessible.

Public space. There are more neighbourhood-scale parks and intensive street landscaping in the public realm, including tree planting funded by the city and designed by neighbours. Accessible and uplifting public spaces are the norm, and neighbours feel less of a need to have a large private yard for the purposes of recreation and relaxation. The arrival of new neighbours is paired with investment in public infrastructure and new housing options for people transitioning through different life stages and cultural settings. Existing neighbours are enthusiastic to welcome newcomers in their neighbourhood and build communities that provide more housing options. Neighbourhood associations have permanent community centres that are open to the public, and are operated at arms length from municipal government.

Tenant protection. We have protected existing residents from displacement. Renovictions (forced displacement by bad-faith renovations) have been eliminated, with real enforcement of tenants’ right to return and an end to unfair eviction practices. Rental replacement by-laws ensure that those who are displaced by redevelopment have adequate transitional homes and the opportunity to return to the same neighbourhood. A landlord registry is established to ensure proper maintenance and repairs of rental properties.

Preserving affordability. Existing affordable rentals have been protected through reforms to rent control laws and a cap on rent increases between different tenancies. There are a variety of financial mechanisms to increase housing stability, including rent-to-own programs, rent banks, rental top-up programs, and financing that is available at fair rates for newcomers who have not had the opportunity to build up a credit score yet. Housing is affordable for all people in all income levels. Ownership of a second home is discouraged through regulation and licensing requirements, and housing is viewed as a human right, not as an investment.

Non-market housing. There is a massive increase in funding for nonmarket housing, including non-profit, co-op, and First Nations owned housing. The region’s affordable housing wait list has been fully addressed, and everybody has a place to call home. There is more access to land via cooperatives and affordable housing unions in collaboration with First Nations. The nonprofit housing community has developed a real expertise in project management, construction, and financing. This makes it easier to rapidly build new affordable and supportive housing projects, with collaboration from multiple agencies serving various demographic and needs based groups. Public and non-profit housing providers have the capacity to build the housing we need.

Housing: measurable outcomes

• Average housing costs vs. income (by neighbourhood, tenure, and age of housing)
• Distribution of homes by number of bedrooms, number of units, and built form (by neighbourhood)
• Number of homes in non-market housing (by neighbourhood)
• Number of neighbours experiencing homelessness, including hidden homelessness (by demographic group)
• Number of people who own multiple homes
• Rate of housing insecurity
• Percentage of households paying 30% or more of average monthly household income on housing [Canadian Index of Wellbeing]
• Percentage of youth experiencing homelessness or hidden homelessness [Children and Youth Planning Table Youth Impact Survey]