Toronto ON:  Draft Inclusionary Zoning Proposals

The City’s draft inclusionary zoning (IZ) proposals are set out in a report entitled “Inclusionary Zoning Draft Official Plan Amendment and Zoning By-Law Amendment” dated 4 September 2020. After public and stakeholder consultations, the final recommended policies are expected to be released in the first half of 2021.

When adopted, these proposals will introduce inclusionary housing requirements in certain limited areas – namely, around major transit nodes located in growth areas of the City. (See Summary of Proposals.)

Montréal QB:  By-law for a diverse metropolis

The City introduced its new affordable housing policy through  by-law for a diverse metropolis that was adopted on 26 January 2021, and will come into force on 1 April 2021.  (See Summary of By-Law.)

The new policy will require all new residential developments of 5 more units to support the provision of social, affordable and family housing through financial contributions, discounted land and/or constructed units.  This policy will replace, but build upon,  the  strategy for the inclusion of affordable housing in new residential projects adopted in 2005.  (See Summary of Strategy.)

Three Case Studies of Canadian Inclusionary Practices

Three major Canadian cities – Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver – have enacted inclusionary housing policies.  Although different in some ways, the policies share a number of key features.

This approach falls well short of mandatory inclusionary zoning as practised in the US.  It probably represents more or less the best that can be done within the limited municipal powers and resources currently available within this country.

This post provides an overview that describes and compares those policies, and identifies their key shared features.

It also provides a more detailed  examination of each of these programs:

• Vancouver’s 20% Core Need Housing Policy
  
• Montreal’s Inclusionary Housing Strategy
• Toronto’s Large Sites Policy
  

This material was prepared by Richard Drdla in January 2010 through funding provided by the Wellesley Institute.

Toronto’s inclusionary housing policy is found in housing policy 9 of its Official Plan. The policy is commonly called the ‘large sites policy’ because it applies only to sites greater than 5 ha in size.

To date, this policy has not been used to provide affordable housing, nor have any implementing regulations or guidelines been prepared to augment the basic requirements found in the OP. [Read more…]