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⛑ The dangers of not doing enough to fix the housing crisis

Although Canada’s public and private sectors hypothetically agree on the need for more housing, progress hasn’t been made fast enough.

One challenge seems to be moving past pointing fingers. The Chair of Toronto’s Planning and Housing Committee called suggestions that archaic zoning, fee increases, and a lengthy approvals process contribute to the housing shortage “utterly, utterly false.” 

He instead directed blame at shoebox condos. These shouldn’t be the only kind of homes built, but are a product of the current challenges facing new housing, not the other way around.

Making positive change has to be a joint effort from all levels of government and the housing industry, which means finding more constructive solutions than statements like these.

Before Toronto’s Official Plan (document guiding new housing and growth) was updated to allow progressive density in early 2024, its last complete overhaul took place in 2002.

Since then, there has been monumental evolution in how we build cities, and we’re approaching another critical juncture.

We asked students if they plan to stay in the city where they go to school. Results were split, about 33% for each of yes, no, and unsure.

79% of young people are making this decision based on jobs (49%) and housing (30%). These are actually more connected than you might think. Employers want to set up businesses in growing, thriving cities that make people want to move there.

That requires enough places to live.

You guessed it — the key to keeping bright young minds in a city is housing.

Communities that don’t take the housing shortage seriously could see local activity slow. If unwilling to build diverse housing to create space for new residents, how will neighbourhoods grow or support local businesses?

Without young people, will communities thrive or turn into modern ghost towns?

Decades ago, Canada stopped building enough new housing. As our population has grown, our housing supply — especially affordable housing — hasn’t kept up. The shortage has only gotten worse with time.

Today, there are already 250k Canadians on the waitlist for affordable and social housing. Every year that housing gets more expensive and meaningful steps aren’t taken to address the flood of demand, the number only climbs higher.

If we don’t build enough to make up for our historical lack of action, we will have even less affordable housing available in the future.

Canada can’t make the same mistake that it made in the past. Thankfully, it feels like decision makers are slowly starting to realize that.

👏 Good news in housing

University Health Network launches Social Medicine Housing Initiative

This project is a first-of-its-kind supportive housing initiative that provides safe, permanent, and affordable housing for 51 unhoused patients who have consistently been readmitted to the hospital. The depth of the homelessness crisis needs more creative partnership solutions like this one. The building opens this fall in Toronto. Keep reading…

5 reform recommendations to enable new housing construction

University of Ottawa think tank Smart Prosperity released 5 recommendations for policy reform: reduce financing costs, remove barriers to capital, streamline or automate the approvals process, ensure predictable population growth, and define child-friendly and senior-friendly housing. We would add youth housing to the final bullet. Keep reading…

Burnaby considers adding flexibility to Rental Use Zoning Policy

The municipality is expected to rework some of its restrictions for new housing, which have made it hard to propose new financially viable projects in the community. These adjustments aim to make it easier for housing to get built in Burnaby. Keep reading…

🙋 We’re giving away another $500!

We just wrapped up a 200 student survey at SFU in six days, made possible by our amazing campus ambassadors. Do you think you have what it takes to get students involved (or maybe you just want to earn a dollar for every response)?

If you want to become an ambassador on your campus, reply to this email to learn more.

Capilano University is next. Do you or someone you know go to CapU and want to help? Fill out the quick survey below for a chance to win one of five $100 rent rebates! This $500 brings our total giveaways to date to $9,000!

Find the CapU student survey here.

🗂 Landlord letter templates

Whether it’s your first time living on your own or you’ve been renting for years, this is the time of year that lots of young people are getting settled in new places, which can involve dealing with a new landlord.

Is your landlord illegally entering your unit, trying to change your agreement without your consent, or unreasonably preventing you from having overnight guests?

If so, and you can’t quite figure out how to word a message to your landlord, check out the list of template letters from BC’s Tenant Resource and Advisory Centre to help you out.

There’s even a template roommate agreement.

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