Toronto nonprofits push for doubled land trust funding ahead of October election

Community groups buying properties across Toronto to keep rents low are calling on city council to double funding for their work ahead of October's municipal election.

The multi-unit residential acquisition program launched in 2022 with $10 million and has since grown to $100 million. Community land trusts are now urging council to increase it to $200 million, which they say would allow the city and their organizations to collectively preserve 4,000 units over four years.

These nonprofits acquire at-risk rental buildings and keep them affordable for residents, serving as part of the non-market housing sector — subsidized or regulated housing where rents are tied to residents' incomes rather than market forces. Anyika Mark, managing director of the Little Jamaica Community Land Trust focused on Eglinton Avenue W., said that if the mayor and council champion a proposed cultural districts program, organizations like hers "can make leaps and bounds over the next few years."

Matti Siemiatycki, director of the Infrastructure Institute and professor of geography and planning at the University of Toronto, said housing may not dominate this election the way it did three years ago. Rents have begun coming down and there's "less frenzy" in the market, he said. "There's a growing recognition that while we absolutely need an increase in the total supply of housing, market housing is not going to be the fix for all of our housing challenges."

Groups are also urging officials to back the proposed cultural districts program, set to go before city council this month, which would provide grants to help communities facing displacement due to gentrification.