United Way Greater Toronto research highlights nine interventions to propel roadmap for driving inclusive change in GTA neighbourhoods

BY PAUL JUNOR

The United Way of Greater Toronto has partnered with 280 community agencies in Toronto, Peel, and York Region to tackle local poverty. Its ground-breaking research over the years focuses on finding long-term solutions to many endemic social problems.

On Wednesday, January 11^th, 2023, it released its latest research titled, “Building Inclusive Communities: Learning from Programs and Policies that Work.” The purpose of this research is to showcase the importance of affordable housing, employment opportunities, and community benefits in the coming years as increasing immigration and population changes impact the GTA.

Daniele Zanotti, CEO states in the press release, “United Way of Greater Toronto is on the ground, in neighbourhoods across the region, listening to the needs of the communities we call home. For our collective future, we need to ensure that neighbourhood redevelopment projects are addressing the unique needs of the people who live there.”

The three program interventions highlighted by the research report include:

Workforce agreements

Workforce and hiring policies that provide employment opportunities to local residents, like the workforce agreement included in the Regent Park Community Benefits Agreement.

Neighbourhood-level workforce development programs

Programs that provide training and wrap-around support for workforce development matched to a local employment need like Aecon-Golden Mile Joint Venture.

Community land trusts

Non-profits that purchase and hold land for affordable home ownership, rental, and cooperative housing like Parkdale Neighbourhood Land Trust.

The six policy interventions recommended by the research report include:

Rent control

Limits the rent property owners can charge, often in the form of rent increase caps as a tool to prevent displacement – like the Ontario Residential Tenancy Act 2006, 2019, 2020.

Inclusionary zoning

A provincially mandated planning tool that enables municipalities to require or incentivize developers to provide a specific percentage of affordable housing in new developments, like the City of Toronto’s proposed Inclusory Zoning (5-10% affordable in 2022 and 8-22% by 2030) that could be impacted by the More Homes Build Faster Act

Linkage fees

Charges to developers to offset the impact new developments have on government services directed to: housing, transit, daycare, and other infrastructure in neighbourhoods where they are needed most (though not necessarily the same neighbourhood as the development).

Social procurement

Combats the impact of systemic discrimination on equity-deserving groups by incorporating equity into procurement processes – from workplace and supplier diversity to wrap-around supports – for municipal projects – like the York University Social Procurement Policy.

Rental unit replacement

A municipal requirement that preserves affordable rental housing stock by requiring rental housing be maintained or replaced one-for-one at similar rents in the event of: renovation, conversion, or demolition. It is also known as No Net Loss – like the Toronto Rental Replacement Policy.

Right to return policy

The opportunity for residents to return to their neighbourhoods or building after temporary relocation due to redevelopment or renovation – like Mississauga’s Rental Housing Protection bylaw, 2019.

There are six essential takeaways from the research report crucial to facilitating successful outcomes:

• No single intervention is able or designed to address all the ways neighbourhood change affects a community; the programs and policies work best in combination.
• A shared vision for community change can guide investment and inform decisions and advocacy around proposed interventions.
• Trusted local partners play a pivotal role in convening and supporting dialogue and building relationships across diverse stakeholders.
• Neighbourhood change is a complex process and the potential for interventions to influence impact decreases as the change cycle advances.
• Being clear on intended outcomes is critical to evaluating and learning from implementation of interventions.
• Monitoring and enforcement of interventions is critical to effective implementation.