Mayor John Tory unveils 3-point plan for affordable housing

Mayor John Tory promises not to hesitate to promise to build 40,000 new affordable housing units over the next 12 years. On Wednesday, he highlighted some of the next steps in the city.

Tory has placed housing at the center of his first press conference since his Monday parliamentary election victory with 63% of the vote, saying he was determined to do more and do it quickly.

"It's time to go ahead with the construction," he told reporters Wednesday.

A number of factors, including an expensive real estate market and record vacancy rates, have made it increasingly difficult for many Torontonians to find affordable housing.

Tory said the city had a three-point plan to fix it.

• First, the city identified 10 additional sites where it has land that could be converted into housing (previously, city staff had identified 48 sites).
• Secondly, city officials will determine how to speed up the approval process required for new housing construction.
• Finally, the city reiterates its calls to the provincial and federal governments to offer them the land they hold in the city, in the hope that they too can be converted into housing.

Tory said he wanted a plan to speed up the process on his office in 30 days, while the newly elected city council will vote on whether or not to redevelop the 10 new sites at its first meeting.

The city has been slow to build new affordable housing in recent years and has also been criticized for announcing completed units. However, Tory said that he felt that the target of 40,000 units was "realistic".

Jennifer Keesmaat, the former chief planner who finished second in Monday's mayoral race, promised to build 100,000 affordable housing units in a decade if she were elected.

The day after Tory's election victory, he presented his program for the next four years on CBC Radio Metro Morning. You can listen to this interview in the reader below: