City Data And More Affordable Housing Needed
As part of its Housing Action Plan, the City of Toronto launched a Housing Data Hub in March 2023. The hub is a publicly accessible source for data related to housing in the city, including information about homes that are approved, under construction, and completed. The Housing Data Hub also includes an Affordable Rental Housing Map which provides information about affordable rental homes approved by City Council since January 1, 2017 either through city housing programs or through development applications.
Data
From the City website: “The Housing Data Hub brings together key housing data related to the social and affordable housing portfolio under the City’s administration, including:
- the affordable rental housing pipeline with homes that are approved, under construction and completed
- details on rental units that have been demolished and replaced
- the existing social housing stock and data from the Centralized Waiting List
- maps showing where affordable rental projects in the pipeline are, as well as where social housing buildings are located in the city
- the first annual release of the Toronto Housing Data Book”
Data is crucial for governments and policy-making because it provides valuable insights, evidence, and information necessary for informed decision-making and effective governance. Data is important in the context of government and policy for
- Evidence-based decision-making
- Policy formulation and evaluation
- Identifying social, economic, and demographic trends
- Monitoring and accountability
- Resource allocation and planning
- Engaging communities most impacted
According to the city’s open data on active affordable and social housing units under the city’s administration, as of Q3 of 2022, there were around 85,000 subsidized units and 7,700 affordable housing units across the city. Here, “affordable housing” refers to rental homes that meet the provincial definition of affordability; for rental housing, this is defined as the least expensive of 1) rent does not exceed 30% of gross annual household income, or 2) rent is at or below the average market rent in the regional market area.
Etobicoke-Lakeshore
In Etobicoke-Lakeshore, a large proportion of residents cannot afford the average market rent in the area. To afford a bachelor unit in South Etobicoke in 2022 without exceeding 30% of after-tax income[1], an individual had to be making nearly $45,000 after taxes. While Statistics Canada does not make census data at the neighbourhood level available, when we look at the incomes of those living in the closest surrounding ward, Etobicoke-Lakeshore – the median after-tax income of individuals in private households was $42,400 according to the 2021 census, and 47% of those with after-tax income were making less than $40,000 after taxes. The census also indicates that there were around 98,000 individuals between the ages of 15 and 64 in Etobicoke-Lakeshore, and 97% of those aged 15 and older in private households had after-tax income. Based on these figures, we can estimate that around half of Etobicoke-Lakeshore’s adult population (49,000 individuals), are not making enough to afford a bachelor unit in their ward.
These figures, in addition to our research findings, suggest a dire need for affordable and subsidized housing units in the community. The open data from the City of Toronto’s Housing Data Hub indicates that while nearly 1,600 affordable rental homes have been approved in South Etobicoke, construction has not started on any of them.
| Address | Number of Affordable Units | Construction Start Date |
| 17-19 Norris Cr. | 33 | Not Started |
| 150 Eighth Street | 58 | Not Started |
| 2150 Lakeshore Blvd W | 1500 | Not Started |
When we look at affordable housing units approved in the ward of Etobicoke-Lakeshore, some have started construction, but none have been completed yet. These units, which include those approved in South Etobicoke, will provide 3,224 affordable rental units to the ward once construction is complete. This comes nowhere close to providing enough affordable housing for the number of people in need, even if there were two, three, or four people living in each unit.
| Address | Number of Affordable Units | Construction Start Date |
| 1001 The Queensway | 12 | Started in 2022, incomplete |
| 1306 The Queensway | 12 | Not Started |
| 140 The Queensway | 34 | Not Started |
| 1750 The Queensway | 200 | Not Started |
| 3326 Bloor St W | 419 | Not Started |
| 5207 Dundas St W | 900 | Not Started |
| 5365 Dundas St W | 90 | Started in 2019, incomplete |
| 5507 Dundas St W | 6 | Not Started |
When we look at the subsidized housing listings for Etobicoke-Lakeshore, 22 locations appear, with providers including the Toronto Seniors Housing Corporation, Toronto Community Housing, and Co-operative Homes. Many of these buildings have household income limits ranging from $44,000 to $73,000, depending on the sizes of units available. Overall, there are just under 3,000 subsidized housing units in Etobicoke-Lakeshore, but they rarely become available for new tenants.
| Address | Number of Subsidized Units | Units Available in Last Year |
| 41 Mabelle Avenue | 350 | 7 |
| 49 Mabelle Avenue | 51 | 0 |
| 5005 Dundas St W | 512 | 0 |
| 773 The Queensway | 97 | 6 |
| 340 Royal York Rd | 307 | 30 |
| 100 Cavell Avenue | 411 | 26 |
| 1 Summerhill Road | 269 | 12 |
| 2835 Lake Shore Blvd W | 148 | 5 |
| 115 Birmingham Street | 163 | 0 |
| 10 Garnett Janes Road | 98 | 3 |
| 20 Garnett Janes Road | 86 | 2 |
| 1 Coin Street | 106 | 1 |
| 10 Elsinore Path | 41 | 0 |
| 250 Twelfth Street | 178 | 0 |
| 3078 Lake Shore Blvd W | 72 | 3 |
| 256 Sheldon Avenue | 38 | 0 |
| 15 43rd Street | 59 | 2 |
Combined, there are just over 6,000 existing subsidized units and planned affordable units in Etobicoke-Lakeshore. Half of the planned affordable units have not yet started to be constructed, and while they will support some community members, they may come too late, and may not be affordable enough to allow residents to thrive. 6,000 units for 49,000 individuals comes nowhere close to meeting the community’s needs. It also does not account for potential increases in population in the community; there has been a large increase in population across the province that does not match the number of housing starts.
Though Toronto is one of the cities with housing starts and completions that are on track with its target, more market rate units alone are not going to address housing unaffordability for all community members. There is still a long way to go to improve housing access, affordability, and choice for residents in Etobicoke-Lakeshore.
[1] We use an after-tax figure since this represents the actual income available in a household.
Written by: Research Assistant Natalie Pilla | LinkedIn
