Founded in 2002, the Toronto Community Housing Corporation (TCHC) owned 60,000 homes in the City of Toronto. It was the second largest public housing authority in North America. That’s some distance behind the New York City Housing Authority, which is the largest, and today also has the biggest repair bill at $40+ Billion (USD).
TCHC is not without its challenges, though. CEO’s come and go. There’s an extensive list of capital repairs that are needed, although the some of these have been completed with federal funding from the National Housing Strategy.
Tenant relations have been an ongoing issue. Seniors have been evicted and died homeless. An independent review of TCHC’s operations concluded that it was too big and recommended that it be broken up into smaller, more manageable pieces.
Earlier this year, TCHC transferred ownership of 761 single family homes to two non-profit housing providers. And in June, TCHC transferred the management of 83 other properties to the Toronto Seniors Housing Corporation1. As its name suggests, the new corporation is managing housing that is designated for seniors (59 years of age and older). Currently there are 14,000 tenants.
Happily for the newly minted TSHC tenants, the rent structure continues. They will pay no more than 30% of their income for their housing.
Followers of TCHC’s history will no doubt see a certain irony in this latest development. Three housing providers merged to form TCHC when it began in 2002. One of those providers was Metropolitan Toronto Housing Company Ltd., which operated, you guessed it, housing for seniors.
The 2002 merger wasn’t popular, but the selling points at the time were that TCHC would be more efficient and deliver better service to tenants. Since then, TCHC has been the subject of multiple inquiries and investigations.
There have been many many recommendations to improve supports to tenants. TCHC has accepted all of the recommendations and followed up. Until now, TCHC has used geography to organize its service delivery. TSHC, which focusses on seniors — a specific tenant population — represents a new direction, as well as a return to the past.
This story will be of interest to policy makers and decision makers who are tasked with deciding how non-profit housing should be delivered. Specifically, they should ask whether bigger is better. As well, they might consider organizing housing delivery for specific client groups.
For more on the latest transfer, read about it in Storeys: City Officially Launches a Social Housing Provider for Toronto Seniors
