Toronto city council has approved a motion that will take more than 10,000 housing units out of the control of the Toronto Community Housing (TCH), placing those units under control of a new entity focused on seniors housing.
In June, a report from city staff recommended the creation of a new seniors housing corporation. It will see 83 seniors-designated buildings, currently under TCH’s umbrella, fall under the new City entity.
The City’s executive committee recommended council approve the report, which aims to overhaul the TCH’s governance, legal structure, mandate and accountability framework.
Council’s move falls under priorities laid out under the city’s Tenants First initiative. The strategy is aimed at making sure TCH buildings are kept in a state of good repair and its tenants connected to appropriate services.
TCH will still operate 43,000 units in mixed and family buildings throughout Toronto. But its core mandate will be altered. Among the changes is a transferring of the housing corporation’s real estate development functions to CreateTO, the agency that manages the City of Toronto’s real estate assets.
The report also recommended council create a new relationship unit to operate with the city’s housing corporation. The goal is to improve coordinating the relationship between the City as well as TCH and the soon-to-be-created seniors housing corporation.
A firm launch date for the new corporation hasn’t been set yet.