Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) announced an investment of $14 million in a project to build 51 affordable apartment homes in downtown Toronto.

The news was announced on June 4, and the funding was delivered through the Major Cities Stream of the Rapid Housing Initiative (RHI). The announcement means construction can begin immediately on the building on Dunn Avenue.

The building’s tenants will be those exiting or at risk of homelessness, with a focus on seniors, women and racialized persons. The building will be delivered using modular supportive housing—a much quicker way of delivering construction.

Homes in the building will remain affordable in perpetuity. Future residents will pay no more than 30 percent of their income (or the shelter allowance of their income support benefit) in rent.

“The new modular homes are so much more than just a place to live. These are homes within a vibrant and welcoming community that will improve the health and well-being of those who will live there, as well as the surrounding community,” said Toronto Mayor John Tory. “Thanks to our strong partnership with the other governments and with community partners, we can deliver a new model of care that responds to the unique needs of residents.”

This project is delivered in partnership with all levels of government, the University Health Network (UHN) Gattuso Centre for Social Medicine and the United Way of Greater Toronto. It will incorporate a range of health and social services to be delivered onsite. Through this partnership with UHN, residents will also be connected to primary care and other health services within the hospital's Parkdale campus.

“We know that our most frequent users of hospital services are those without stable, safe housing and are in need of home-based services,” said UHN President and CEO Dr. Kevin Smith. “Approximately 230 individuals represent more than 15,000 visits to UHN’s Emergency Departments because they don't have access to better alternatives. This first-in-Canada initiative by UHN, made possible through partnerships with the City of Toronto and United Way of Greater Toronto, will make a meaningful difference in the lives of those most in need — a need which has been made even more urgent and apparent as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Delivered by CMHC under the National Housing Strategy, the RHI provides capital contributions to develop new, permanent affordable housing. The initiatives covers costs associated with modular multi-unit rental construction; conversion of non-residential to affordable multi-residential homes; and rehabilitation of buildings in disrepair and/or abandoned to affordable multi-residential homes.

The program is funded at $1 billion, and was created to deliver 3,000 permanent affordable housing with the support of provincial, territorial and municipal governments, and Indigenous governing bodies. At 4,700 units, the RHI has already exceeded its initial target.