Prime Minister Mark Carney and Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow have announced a housing deal that is expected to deliver 4,500 new homes across the city, according to CBC News. Officials said the projects span the entire city and, because many of them were already approved, should be able to move quickly.
The developments are spread across Toronto, with sites near Scarborough Town Centre, in Parkdale, and in Corktown, as well as the redevelopment of the former downtown coach terminal. Several of the projects had been approved for years but had lacked the financing to move forward until now.
To help get the projects going, the city is selling the land involved at a nominal rate, which officials described as a major asset it was bringing to the deal. The move is intended to lower the cost of building the new homes on public sites across the city.
Beyond the land, the city is providing more than 500 million dollars in capital and incentives. That package includes a 99-year exemption from municipal and school property taxes for the developments, according to the broadcaster, aimed at making the projects viable.
Mayor Olivia Chow said the city had examined every public site and set aside those that were appropriate for housing. She said the city had also created new incentives as part of the wider effort to get the homes built and address the city's housing needs.
Because the projects had already been approved, Carney and Chow said they would move rapidly. Officials said shovels would be in the ground for 80 per cent of the projects by the end of the year, a pace they attributed to the groundwork that was already in place.
In all, the deal is expected to produce 4,500 new homes, part of what officials framed as a push to provide housing for working families, students, and seniors near transit, schools, and grocery stores across Toronto.