POSTPONED: Experts weigh in on lack of affordable housing in Toronto during March 16 event

Panorama of Toronto skyline at sunset in Ontario, Canada
Panorama of Toronto skyline at sunset in Ontario, Canada

This event has been postponed.

What are our representatives doing to address housing affordability? How are millennials and first-time home buyers being encouraged to purchase homes? Are the policies being put in place to assist us in attaining affordable housing effective? Are these policies counterproductive?

These are some of the questions a panel of experts will explore on March 16 when the Glendon Global Debates series presents “Plaguing Toronto: Affordable Housing.”

The event will investigate the housing market in Toronto, and how the demand for housing is increasing at a much faster than the supply of housing available, resulting in residents and newcomers to Toronto being priced out of the city.

Panorama of Toronto skyline

Toronto Regional Real Estate Board’s “Market Year in Review” report stated the average selling price of a home within in the city in 2020 will exceed $900,000, which is nearly a 10 per cent increase from the 2019 average sale price of $819,319 and nearly a 45 per cent increase from the average sale price in 2015.

Many Canadians, including millennials and new immigrants, are coming to see home ownership as less and less realistic. Toronto has the highest immigration rate per capita in the world, with 43 per cent of new immigrants settling in the GTA. The shortage of rentals available, the lack of affordable housing and the development of Toronto’s neighbourhoods by big-name developers all play a role.

Join the Glendon School of Public and International Affairs, the CITY Institute at York University, the Robarts Centre for Canadian Studies and the Canadian International Council on March 16 from 7 to 9 p.m. in the Moot Court at Osgoode Hall, Keele Campus, to discuss the changing real-estate landscape of the city and what should be done moving forward.

Panel members for this event include: Nemoy Lewis from the University of Toronto, Scott Leon from the Wellesley Institute, Bria Hamilton from HOUSE and Michael Kenny from York University.

The event will be moderated by Jane Farrow, Canadian author, broadcaster and community organizer.