Toronto Community Housing is the largest social housing provider in Canada and the second largest in North America. We are wholly owned by the City of Toronto and operate in a non-profit manner. Toronto Community Housing has
2,100 buildings and 50 million square feet of residential space, which represent a $9 billion public asset.
Toronto Community Housing homes and communities are in 106 of Toronto's 140 neighbourhoods, providing homes to nearly 60,000 low and moderate-income households. Our 110,000 residents come from many different backgrounds with a diversity in age, education, language, mental and physical disability, religion, ethnicity and race:
• 38 per cent of residents are children and youth, 37 per cent are adults, and 25 per cent are seniors (aged 59+)
• 90 per cent of households pay rent-geared-to-income (RGI), with most RGI rent assessed at 30 per cent of gross income
• 28 per cent of households are single parent families
• 29 per cent of RGI households report living with a member with a disability
• 23 per cent of residents live with mental health issues
Toronto Community Housing receives most of our operating funding from rent paid by residents (55 per cent) and from subsidies from the City of Toronto (39 per cent). The remaining 6 per cent of operating funding comes from rental of commercial spaces; parking, laundry and cable fees; and income from investments.
Toronto Community Housing is in year four of its 10-year $2.6 billion
capital repair plan. In 2016, the company will invest a record $250 million (up 43 per cent from 2015) in 18,000 capital repair projects that will benefit 40,500 households.
Toronto Community Housing is the master developer for the
revitalization of six communities (Regent Park, Lawrence Heights, Alexandra Park, Allenbury Gardens, 250 Davenport and Leslie Nymark) that will include 4,500 new or renovated RGI rental units and 12,500 new market-rate condominiums, making us one of the largest real estate developers in Canada.
How we got started
Toronto Community Housing was created by the City of Toronto on January 1, 2002, with the amalgamation of the Metropolitan Toronto Housing Corporation (formerly Metro Toronto Housing Authority, which managed the provincial public housing units in the city) and the Toronto Housing Company (a merger in 1999 of the Metropolitan Toronto Housing Company Ltd. and the City of Toronto Non Profit Housing Corporation, also known then as Cityhome).
Our mission
Our core business is to provide clean, safe, well-maintained, affordable homes for residents. Through collaboration and with residents' needs at the forefront, we connect residents to services and opportunities, and help foster great neighbourhoods where people can thrive.
Learn more about our mission here.
How we operate
The City of Toronto is the sole shareholder, as mandated by the Province of Ontario's Housing Services Act. As our shareholder, the City provides us with a
Shareholder Direction, which outlines the fundamental principles that govern our business. In addition to this Shareholder Direction, motions passed at City Council are considered Directions that also govern our work.
The City of Toronto is also our service manager, under the delegated authority of the provincial Housing Services Act. Their role as service manager is managed through the
Shelter, Support and Housing Administration (SSHA) Division, and governed by an Operating Agreement and its amendments (2003, January 2007, July 2007).
Toronto Community Housing is run by a 12-member
board of directors appointed by the
City of Toronto. The board is made up of:
- three City Councillors
- the Mayor or someone representing the Mayor
- nine citizen members, including two elected Toronto Community Housing residents
The board oversees the management of Toronto Community Housing and monitors its performance against its strategic plan. The Board is accountable to the City of Toronto (its sole shareholder) through presentation of its business plan, annual reports, financial statements and rolling four-year strategic plan.
