WATCH: Mayor Tory says this is the 1st year since 2009 the city is on track to meet its goal of building/approving 1,000 affordable units/yr pic.twitter.com/u5r0sFvflC
— NEWSTALK1010 (@NEWSTALK1010) September 13, 2017
Eight years after setting a goal for affordable housing, mayor John Tory says the city is finally on track to meet that in 2017.
The mayor was joined by Ontario's housing minister Peter Milczyn in the West Don Lands Wednesday morning to announce the province is unlocking surplus land to allow for more affordable housing in the city.
The province will place three plots of land on the market on Thursday, and will look for a developer to put up about 2,000 new rental units. At least 20 per cent of those will be set as affordable units with below market rent.
The wait list for affordable units in Toronto is over 80,000 households. Mayor Tory says while it's going to make more than building 1,000 units a year to put a dent in that list, the city has to start by meeting its goal.
Milczyn adds that while the province will make money on the sale, it won't be as much as if they sold it for the purpose of condos.