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City of Toronto celebrates the ground-breaking of 390 new affordable rental homes at 844 Don Mills Rd.

Arshad Khan

on 27th September, Mayor John Tory together with Ontario Premier Doug Ford and the leadership of Canada’s Ismaili Community celebrated the start of construction of 390 affordable rental homes at 844 Don Mills Rd. Prince Amyn Aga Khan was also present for the ceremony.

The site, which is currently scheduled to be opened late 2025, will be a 27-storey mixed-use building, accommodating affordable rental homes, a long-term care facility, a daycare and retail uses. Approximately 390 affordable rental homes will be developed and operated at Average Market Rate (AMR) for an affordability period of at least 25 years. The affordable rental homes will include 58 studios, 214 one-bedroom apartments, 79 two-bedroom apartments and 39 three-bedroom apartments. These homes will be located on levels four to 27 of the building. There will also be amenity spaces on levels four, five and 11 for the exclusive use of the residents of the affordable rental housing building. Approximately 15 per cent of the affordable rental homes (60 homes) will be designed with basic accessibility features such as barrier-free path of travel to kitchen, bedroom, living room and full bathroom.

Generations Toronto, an affiliate of a family of non-profit corporations with experience developing, owning and managing affordable rental homes across Canada, was approved to develop affordable rental homes at 844 Don Mills Rd.

This affordable rental housing project is supported by the City of Toronto and Generations Toronto, working with the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) to secure financing for the affordable housing portion of this project through their Rental Construction Financing Initiative (RCFI). Through the City’s Open Door Affordable Housing Program, City Council approved an estimated $17.5 million in financial value, such as property tax and development charge exemptions and permit fee waivers, to make this site possible.

This site is part of the Generations Toronto project in the wider Crosstown redevelopment plan, located at 844 Don Mills Rd., and 1150 and 1155 Eglinton Ave. E. The new crosstown community will be a mixed-use community and will include affordable ownership and rental housing, office uses, commercial and retail uses, a new City-owned child care facility, parkland and a community recreation centre.

Since the Open Door program was launched in 2016, incentives have been provided to support the creation of more than 21,700 affordable rental homes across Toronto. The HousingTO 2020-2030 Action Plan sets targets for the approval of 40,000 new affordable rental homes and 4,000 new affordable ownership homes by 2030.

The homes supported through the Open Door program help lower-income households, including racialized communities, seniors and essential workers who have been disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, access safe, secure and affordable housing. These new developments will help to create more inclusive, mixed-income communities in neighbourhoods across Toronto, as envisioned in the HousingTO Action Plan.

More information about the Housing TO Action Plan and creating affordable housing in Toronto is available on the City’s HousingTO webpage: www.toronto.ca/HousingTO.

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