Western Standard - August 05, 2026


Carney’s $2.7 BILLION Housing Blitz： New Rentals Coming to Toronto


Episode Stats


Length

28 minutes

Words per minute

125.63

Word count

3,576

Sentence count

199

Harmful content

Misogyny

2

sentences flagged


Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Misogyny classifications generated with MilaNLProc/bert-base-uncased-ear-misogyny .
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00:00:28.000 Hello, good afternoon everybody, I am Salma Zahid and as the local member of parliament
00:00:53.420 It is really my pleasure to welcome you all today to Scarborough Centre, Dawn Valley East.
00:00:58.460 It's great to have Prime Minister Khani, Mayor Chow, Minister of Housing and Infrastructure Robertson and many federal and municipal colleagues here today.
00:01:08.000 We are here working together because it takes a team to build housing.
00:01:13.000 And if there is one thing we all hear from our constituents, it is this.
00:01:17.140 There is nothing more important than having an affordable place to call home
00:01:21.660 so your family can grow and thrive and succeed.
00:01:25.820 Behind us is a great example of federally supported transit-adjacent co-op housing
00:01:31.320 with shovels in the ground, and there's a lot more to come.
00:01:34.800 With that, I would really like to welcome Minister Gregor Robertson,
00:01:38.760 our Minister of Housing and Infrastructure, to tell us more for today's announcement.
00:01:43.100 Thank you.
00:01:47.140 Thank you Selma. Hi everyone, bonjour à tous. Thank you to Selma for getting us started
00:01:53.580 here on your home turf. Great to be here today in the sunshine of Toronto with Prime Minister
00:01:58.980 Mayor Chow. All of our colleagues here from Toronto caucus and Council, thank you for
00:02:05.380 joining us. Special thanks to our Parliamentary Secretary for Housing Infrastructure and Communities,
00:02:09.980 Jen McKelvey former deputy mayor. We've got a few of our ex-mayors and deputy
00:02:16.820 mayors stepping up into this important time for us.
00:02:20.980 Thank you also to all the community organizations and our partners who are here today.
00:02:29.980 Since becoming minister, I've spent a lot of time on the road meeting with mayors,
00:02:35.980 Premiers, Indigenous leaders, community housing providers, builders and workers like many of you here all across Canada,
00:02:42.740 whether it was on construction sites in BC or it was at the council tables in the Maritimes or here on affordable housing projects in Toronto.
00:02:52.540 There's one thing I hear consistently, Canadians are ready to build.
00:02:57.600 Cities have projects, our community builders, non-profits have plans, our builders are prepared to get shovels in the ground.
00:03:04.460 they're asking us to work together to move faster and to help them get those
00:03:09.020 homes built and those conversations have certainly reinforced something that I
00:03:13.400 learned for a decade in my time as mayor of Vancouver we make real progress on
00:03:19.400 housing when every order of government pulls in the same direction and that's
00:03:24.140 exactly what we're doing now to tackle the housing crisis across Canada build
00:03:29.060 Canada homes is bringing partners together unlocking projects helping
00:03:33.320 communities turn plans into homes. And I also understand the pressure that cities are under,
00:03:39.240 cities like Toronto and across Ontario in particular. I've sat in the council meetings
00:03:45.000 where we knew every project mattered because it meant many more people could finally find
00:03:50.360 a place that they could afford.
00:03:52.280 C'est pour cette raison que Maisons Canada a été criée pour bâtir plus de logements
00:03:59.160 where the need is greatest and Toronto we're seeing that partnership in action today this is amazing news
00:04:10.600 and it's building off of a lot of successful work today we've invested in indigenous housing on
00:04:14.920 Merton Road affordable homes in Regent Park co-op housing in Dunelm and help supports very
00:04:21.640 significant rental housing projects across the city thanks to Colleen and the CMHC team on rental
00:04:27.640 Today's announcement is a reflection of the kind of country that we are building
00:04:32.240 and that's one that invests in affordable housing alongside the new rental supply.
00:04:37.740 It's one that embraces sustainability and climate resilience,
00:04:40.840 modern methods of construction and Canadian innovation and materials.
00:04:44.940 And our Canadians expect our governments to work together to solve these big challenges.
00:04:50.040 To tell us more detail about this important work,
00:04:53.340 it's my honour to welcome our Prime Minister Mark Carney.
00:04:57.640 Thank you very much, Gregor. Thank you, Selma, for welcoming us here. Thanks to my parliamentary
00:05:08.920 colleagues. Thanks to members of City Council, all of you. And I'll just say one thing at
00:05:14.260 the start. You're going to hear a lot about different levels of government working together,
00:05:17.960 and one of the blessings I have in this role is that I have colleagues who work at the
00:05:27.420 I worked at the provincial level, at the city level here in Toronto, city level, Vancouver
00:05:36.600 city level across, and that helps bring energy, insight and a sense of purpose to what we're
00:05:42.720 doing.
00:05:43.720 I want to thank Mayor Chow for being here today alongside Anna Belao, our CEO of Build Canada
00:05:51.960 Holmes calling vote from CMHC and my colleagues. But the mayor is here and
00:05:57.200 right from the beginning, right from the start when I brought in this role and I
00:06:03.000 knew the mayor a bit from before, but right from the beginning we agreed that
00:06:07.200 Toronto grows stronger, Canada grows stronger when we work together, when our
00:06:11.220 governments work together and particularly when we build together. And I
00:06:15.200 know the mayor would also agree that Toronto is one of the world's greatest
00:06:18.900 cities. I think she dropped the qualifier. Greatest city. Fair enough.
00:06:25.800 The Prime Minister of Canada, I've got to be more equal. But greatness is earned, but
00:06:31.860 greatness is also a magnet. And for generations, people have come from every single corner
00:06:37.260 of the earth to build a new life here in Toronto. And as a consequence, Toronto is one of the
00:06:42.340 fastest growing cities in North America. And that growth comes with, of course, greater
00:06:48.040 demand for social services and greater demand for housing. And for decades, the simple fact
00:06:54.340 is Toronto didn't build enough housing and too much of what was built was unaffordable
00:06:59.700 for most Torontonians. Prices driven up by development charges, by taxes, by rising construction
00:07:05.900 costs and a lack of availability of land. And the best way to meet the challenge that
00:07:11.940 that has created is to build more supply and to build it faster. To build better with new
00:07:17.100 methods and modern materials, and above all, building in partnership, building, yes, with
00:07:22.640 the private sector, but also with non-profits and across every order of government.
00:07:34.560 And crucial to this is to build a healthy rental market for every kind of renter.
00:07:41.720 And that means, from the federal perspective, it means pulling every lever that we have
00:07:50.720 and using every tool at our disposal.
00:07:53.720 So before I go into more detail on today's announcement, let me just say a few words
00:07:57.540 about what we've been doing to build momentum in affordable housing over the last 17 months.
00:08:03.800 Just last September, less than a year ago, we started and launched Build Canada Homes,
00:08:10.480 It's a new federal entity charged with supercharging housing construction across Canada.
00:08:15.980 And since its launch, Maisons Canada has already committed to build about 17,000 homes within the country,
00:08:28.480 and more than 1,900 are already on the road.
00:08:35.480 We work as a partnership, helping our funding on the terrain and the local expertise of
00:08:42.920 the city to deliver quickly and at a large scale.
00:08:49.400 I would like to inform you that the teleprompter is ceased to function.
00:08:58.840 Unlike a certain world leader, I do not view this as a conspiracy.
00:09:05.080 During the last 17 months, we have made two great projects.
00:09:10.080 The average price of a living, it is across Canada,
00:09:14.080 a living has decreased by more than $825,000 in the beginning of 2022,
00:09:24.080 with less than $660,000.
00:09:28.080 Today, it is a 20% chute.
00:09:32.080 The part of the revenue that the Canadian consacre to reimbursement of their
00:09:36.120 hypothecary is at its lowest level since almost 4 years, and the report between the
00:09:43.640 loan and the revenue is at its lowest level since more than 2 years.
00:09:49.800 So with big progress now being made, directionally on affordability, we need to do much more
00:09:55.440 to get things where they need to be.
00:09:58.440 That brings us right here.
00:10:00.760 What was a parking lot, 2444 Eglinton, is now, as you see, a construction site for Kennedy
00:10:08.660 Green.
00:10:09.660 The largest affordable housing development in this province in more than a quarter century.
00:10:20.700 And Kennedy Green is backed by $289 million in financing from the Canadian government.
00:10:26.000 But it's happening not just because of the money, but because we're building together.
00:10:29.520 and that's what partnerships can do just four months ago mayor chow and i stood with premier
00:10:35.040 ford to announce a new partnership between the federal government and the government of ontario
00:10:40.000 one that's cutting taxes and fees on new homes in this province that can mean up to a reduction of
00:10:46.320 two hundred thousand dollars in june through that partnership the city of toronto secured
00:10:54.320 one and a half billion dollars to cut residential development charges by 40 to 60 percent and that
00:11:01.120 partnership is also building the transit that neighborhoods need to cut commute times to
00:11:08.640 connect people to their jobs their schools and their homes new transit that includes the new
00:11:14.160 waterfront east line that will serve more than 150 000 people and in and of itself enable 75 000
00:11:21.440 new homes. That includes expanded all-day-go service across Greater Golden Horseshoe and
00:11:28.800 rapid transit that reaches deeper into the city than ever before from the Ontario line to,
00:11:35.520 you guessed it, the Scarborough subway extension.
00:11:38.560 Partout in the country, with our partners, we work with our partners to build strong communities.
00:11:48.560 We are partners that allow us to fight against the crisis of housing on all the areas.
00:11:54.560 We conform to the way that this country is built,
00:11:58.560 so that one housing and the beautiful life that it offers
00:12:03.560 are at the port of each Canadian and Canadian.
00:12:07.560 So, to today, I'm proud to announce a new housing agreement between the Government of Canada and the City of Ontario.
00:12:14.760 Or, sorry, the City of Ontario.
00:12:18.340 I don't know if I can pour it on my mind.
00:12:21.340 The City of Toronto. Government of Canada, the City of Toronto.
00:12:25.080 Let's put this in context.
00:12:26.380 Over the next three years, the Government of Canada will invest $2.7 billion.
00:12:36.380 By the way, that $2.7 billion, that's distinct from what I talked about earlier, that $1.5 billion.
00:12:42.380 We will invest $2.7 billion to build more than 18 housing projects across this city.
00:12:48.380 We're starting by creating more than 5,600 new rental homes that a range, broad range
00:12:56.000 of Torontonians can afford.
00:12:57.960 North of 1,800 of those homes will be deeply affordable, supportive, or rent.
00:13:07.820 We're moving fast, you see the shovels behind me.
00:13:12.140 We will have shovels in the ground on 80%, 8-0% of this portfolio.
00:13:17.620 means more than 4500 homes by the end of this year. As I suggested at the start
00:13:29.260 every home in this portfolio will be a rental and they span together the entire
00:13:34.060 continuum of rental housing from supportive to affordable homes and it's
00:13:38.260 a partnership that builds on every component of a healthy housing ecosystem.
00:13:43.960 So what does that mean for Torontonians? It means in Scarborough, at 158 Borough Drive, hundreds of families, seniors and essential workers will have a home in the heart of the community on the ride, beside the Civic Centre and the Town Centre.
00:13:59.180 It means that the Parkdale Hub, in the West End, a new 16-storey complex will move forward
00:14:13.540 finally, creating more affordable places to live in one of the neighbourhoods that has
00:14:18.060 been hardest hit by rising rents and rising evictions.
00:14:22.420 Those are just two of the examples of the 18 projects we're announcing today.
00:14:26.120 18 communities across this city, tens of thousands of new places for Torontonians to call home.
00:14:33.640 We're executing this, we're building through two channels. First, and crucially, is non-market,
00:14:41.000 non-profit housing delivered through Build Canada Homes, and thank you Anna Balao for your leadership
00:14:47.400 there. Specifically, the federal government is investing more than $310 million to advance
00:14:58.400 nine projects on city-owned land, nearly 1,900 homes, more than 700 meeting the strict definition
00:15:07.780 of affordable housing. That means that rent will cost less than 30% of a household's
00:15:12.960 pre-tax income. All of these projects had been approved in the past. All of these projects
00:15:20.000 were ready to build, many of them for a long period of time. All of them were stalled for
00:15:24.900 want of financing until today, the Canadian government putting up the capital to get them
00:15:30.200 built. And the City of Toronto contributing one of the most valuable resources a city
00:15:36.160 can offer to improve a project's affordability, which is public land at a nominal value.
00:15:42.020 And on top of that, the City of Toronto is providing more than $530 million in capital
00:15:52.420 and incentives, including a 99-year exemption from municipal and school property taxes.
00:16:00.140 The second channel that we're building on is market-rate housing, homes built by the
00:16:04.300 private sector and backed by attractive financing, and this is where the CMHC's apartment construction
00:16:10.900 loan program comes in the federal government through that facility is providing more than
00:16:15.780 1.8 billion dollars in low-cost financing for nine projects they will create 3 700 new homes
00:16:22.980 of which a thousand will be affordable that includes new rental homes near cork town on
00:16:28.100 ontario street and the redevelopment of the former downtown coach terminal just steps from city hall
00:16:33.620 I've been there. We're going further still with up to 600 million dollars in additional financing
00:16:42.500 capacity. So that's additional capacity that's available out of that overall amount
00:16:48.180 so that the city of Toronto can move forward as soon as other opportunities become ready.
00:16:54.420 So what we're announcing today is a big component of what the type of housing and the scale of
00:16:59.620 housing that Toronto needs. Not luxury condos, but homes that people can afford. Places that
00:17:06.740 they can build their lives in. Places near the subway, schools, grocery stores, for working
00:17:12.420 families, for students, seniors. Now, as Gregor mentioned a moment ago, we know it's not just
00:17:21.460 about what we build, as important as housing is, but it's also how we build it. So we're building
00:17:26.900 inclusively. At 15 Benison Avenue, one of the projects, we're building a 100-unit Indigenous-led
00:17:33.620 supportive housing development. We're building in solidarity with union workers. The portfolio
00:17:45.140 alone will support over 2,100 jobs every year during construction. And we're building sustainably.
00:17:53.940 If you take the project on Dundas Street West, where there was a parking lot, we're building a state-of-the-art housing development with mass timber construction, geothermal energy, low-carbon design strategies.
00:18:09.300 Above all, we're building Canadians, with Canadian steel, Canadian lumber, Canadian workers.
00:18:14.760 Now, I'm warming up to hand over to the Mayor, so I'm going to go back to Toronto's greatness.
00:18:29.760 Think of what drives that greatness. A food scene like nowhere else. Research hospitals that lead the world.
00:18:35.760 A tech industry that rivals any other on the planet. Thriving music, film, entertainment industry.
00:18:43.760 But the fundamental greatness of Toronto comes from its people.
00:18:48.660 The fact is that too many Torontonians have been struggling to afford their rent.
00:18:53.560 Today's announcement is a big part of changing that.
00:18:56.580 By building its scale across the entire rental continuum, we're making Toronto a model.
00:19:03.100 Strong communities, safe communities, communities that people can afford.
00:19:08.600 Canadians and Canadians have given our new government the mandate to build a stronger
00:19:16.600 Canada, a country where everyone has more opportunity to go forward with more safe communities
00:19:23.600 and affordable housing. We're building Scarborough strong, Toronto strong, and Canada strong
00:19:34.600 for everyone and we're just getting started I would like to introduce her
00:19:44.380 worship the mayor of Toronto Olivia
00:19:53.980 thank you Prime Minister Carney I'm excited are you yeah we are happy thanks
00:20:02.780 Thanks to the multi-billion dollar announcement we're making today, the homes we are building
00:20:08.540 will give security to tens of thousands of people.
00:20:13.300 Today we're making and we're taking a strong step forward to fulfill a basic promise.
00:20:21.140 If you work here, you should be able to afford to live here.
00:20:26.580 you Prime Minister for your commitment to the people of Toronto. Thank you Minister
00:20:35.940 Robertson, Bill Kather, Home CEO, Emma Bailao, you have always been a true champion of Toronto.
00:20:45.060 CMXC CEO Pauline Volk over there, yes, we're joined by Deputy Mayor Osma Malek,
00:20:52.740 no, Amber Molly, yes, okay, okay, local councillor Michael Thompson, and many of the colleagues,
00:21:02.840 oh, and councillor Chris Moyes, and many of the, well, actually, it's the entire, probably,
00:21:09.000 416 Liberal Caucus, all of the Liberal Member of Parliament right here, thank you.
00:21:15.480 It takes all of us coming together to build housing.
00:21:22.740 And there are city staff, our city manager, our agencies, the Toronto Community Housing Authority,
00:21:31.300 the agencies, partners, they're all here working together to get housing built.
00:21:38.460 Let me tell you a story about Rona.
00:21:40.980 Rona is a professional landscaper. 1.00
00:21:43.840 She spent her talents and her skill creating beauty in people's homes. 0.99
00:21:49.780 But for years after a bad breakup, she didn't have a secure home of her own.
00:21:57.780 Very depressed.
00:21:59.780 When I met her, she had just moved into a new affordable home in a low-rise building that the Toronto City helped deliver.
00:22:09.780 She was rebuilding her life.
00:22:12.780 I walked into her rooftop.
00:22:15.780 She transformed her building rooftop with plants, flowers, and vegetables.
00:22:21.880 It was just magnificently beautiful.
00:22:25.480 An oasis she built with her neighbors, teaching them to garden alongside her.
00:22:30.780 They shared the harvest, the best tasting tomatoes and herbs in the building,
00:22:36.020 in the entire neighborhood, and built a community along with it.
00:22:41.920 An affordable home gave her hope and transformed her life.
00:22:46.920 Right now, too many families in Scarborough and across Toronto face an impossible choice.
00:22:53.920 Do they stay close to the kids' school or move further away to find something they can afford?
00:23:01.920 Plan for the future or just trying to survive at this moment?
00:23:06.920 And no family should have to choose, not in a city that prides itself on compassion.
00:23:15.060 Three years ago when I became mayor, there wasn't much affordable housing being built.
00:23:20.500 I set out together with the city staff a plan to build 65,000 homes for the people of Toronto.
00:23:29.380 The city examined every public site and put it aside for housing, those that are appropriate.
00:23:36.300 We created new incentives, streamlined red tape, sped up the approvals and changed the
00:23:42.240 zoning to allow for more of the housing we need.
00:23:47.020 But the non-profit sector has no funds to build homes people can afford.
00:23:53.240 So the federal government stepped in with their housing accelerator funds and groups
00:23:58.900 like the cooperative housing federation of canada dared to dream again because for three decades
00:24:07.700 they weren't able to build anything and where we are standing today is an example of the progress
00:24:14.580 we made together this is called kennedy green canada's largest cooperative housing in a
00:24:23.700 generation. Yes, cooperatives are back. This used to be a city-owned parking lot. In 69
00:24:36.700 days, we re-sewned it for housing. That's turbo speed in record time. Not 68, 69 days.
00:24:45.700 This will become 612 new rent-geared-to-income, affordable and cooperative homes.
00:24:52.700 The largest purpose-built, non-profit rental co-op in the country.
00:24:58.700 Stable, long-term homes for people who keep this city going.
00:25:03.700 And still the housing market remains tight. We all know that.
00:25:08.700 So when the Prime Minister and the new government was elected, we met in Ottawa.
00:25:13.700 We talked about the need to build more homes and the urgency to get shovels in the ground immediately.
00:25:21.700 The Prime Minister promised strong action.
00:25:26.180 And a couple of months ago, partner with the provincial government, he delivered,
00:25:30.640 lowering the cost of building homes by helping the city build our infrastructure.
00:25:35.400 The city can now lower development charges by up to 60% and a 100% exemption.
00:25:43.400 No development charges, no fees at all for projects that include affordable housing.
00:25:50.400 Yes, that is important.
00:25:55.400 And today the Prime Minister is delivering the second strong action.
00:26:01.400 Today, I can tell you, if your rent is too high, if you're looking for more spaces to raise a family, if you've been waiting for affordable housing for years, it's coming.
00:26:15.140 Here in Scarborough and across Toronto, we have thousands of shuffles in the ground, cranes in the sky across the city. We will build homes people can actually afford.
00:26:27.400 And for the first time in a long time, rent is going down.
00:26:34.400 Yes, it is, because of our collective effort.
00:26:38.400 We are making this progress through our strong partnership.
00:26:42.400 Today's announcement means 5,500 new homes will be built.
00:26:47.400 Through both funding and low-cost financing,
00:26:50.400 we're making more projects viable in these tough economic times.
00:26:55.400 And we aren't waiting for years. You heard the Prime Minister said, shuffles hit the ground this year.
00:27:02.520 And that's worthy of celebration because we need the jobs, we need the housing right now.
00:27:12.240 We're moving with urgency because people running out of rent money at the end of the month cannot wait.
00:27:19.000 Couples delaying having children because of high housing costs cannot wait either.
00:27:25.400 Right now, our non-market housing sector makes up 3.5% of the housing system and is only half the size of those of our OECD peers.
00:27:38.320 Prime Minister, your groundbreaking task force report you penned in March 2024 with lease of rates at 4 out of 10 homes built needs to be non-market affordable homes.
00:27:50.080 And we certainly have our work cut out for us.
00:27:54.260 But I know we're building Canada strong.
00:27:57.840 We will keep building.
00:28:00.280 And for Rona and for so many families like her and affordable homes,
00:28:05.080 man, peace of mind, security, a stable foundation to build from, hope for the future.
00:28:12.380 Prime Minister Kearney, Minister Robertson, Anna Bynow, thank you so very, very much.