Metrolinx land sold to developers must include affordable housing, advocates say
CBC
Pirawin Namasivayam lives in the basement of his parents' Scarborough bungalow because finding an apartment in Toronto's east end has proven unaffordable for the 21-year-old.
Namasivayam, a student at the University of Toronto, says he and some of the peers are now considering moving west to Alberta or the Prairies after graduation simply to afford housing.
He says more affordable housing in the city's east end would deter him from thoughts of a life far from home.
"I think a lot of people have kind of given up on living in Toronto," said Namasivayam. "You're going to be stuck living with your parents for the next 10, 20 years, trying to scrounge up enough money."
Namasivayam, who started volunteering with the advocacy group More Neighbours Toronto during the pandemic, says the surplus provincial land that Metrolinx has been selling to developers could be a great way to create more affordable housing.
The problem? The government isn't attaching any requirements to build more affordable housing to the land that the transit agency is selling off. And that leaves delopers free to charge whatever they like for the units they build.
One such piece of land is 8 Dawes Rd., which was recently sold by Metrolinx to a developer. Steps from the Danforth GO train station and Main subway station, it's an accessible location, yet the deal contained no requirements for affordable housing units — and advocates are calling that a big missed opportunity.
"It's a poor decision," said Namasivayam.
When land is near transit hubs, it's even more critical that some units are affordable, he says, adding many on more modest incomes don't own cars.
Mark Richardson, a volunteer with the group HousingNowTO, says the Dawes Road location was the only site available for development in the area near the Danforth GO station that was government-owned.
"The province needs to do better," said Richardson. "If you want affordable housing development, don't waste your land and do deals like this that don't have affordable housing baked into them."
He is concerned this could keep happening, especially as Metrolinx — a Crown agency of the government of Ontario — sells or leases more land to developers as the Ontario Line is being built.
"Metrolinx has tons of land. And when they dispose of their land, they put zero affordable housing requirements," said Richardson.
Metrolinx did not provide a response in time for publication.
As classes across New Brunswick pause for the holidays, it’s not yet clear which schools are making a dent in chronic absenteeism — a stubborn post-pandemic trend that mostly afflicts the high school cohort, especially in the Anglophone West school district.
CBC Quebec has launched its Make the Season Kind campaign. It's our annual campaign that focuses on food insecurity, while also celebrating kindness, generosity and community spirit around the province.
Premier Wab Kinew says Manitoba will hold a public inquiry as soon as 2026 into the former Progressive Conservative government’s post-election efforts to approve an environmental licence for sand-mining company Sio Silica.
Premier Scott Moe has led the Saskatchewan Party through two straight elections, winning majority governments each time.
Eight weeks after adding a GM BrightDrop van to the fleet of his plumbing and heating business, Marty Salliss has no complaints, only praise.
Nearly half of Alberta’s Grade 6 students failed the provincewide math test in 2024, three years after the province started rolling out its new elementary school curriculum.
Toronto could get new cars on the road whose drivers will never get frustrated by gridlock — because the cars would be driving themselves.
Amidst a cost-of-living crisis, some London-area organizations say they have noticed a decline in donations this holiday season.
Prominent northern leaders have been touting the Arctic economic and security corridor as a "nation-building" project that will bring economic benefits to the two territories it straddles, but others are split on how much good will come out of it.
When the federal government tabled its 2025 budget last month, it included a proposal that tax fraud experts say is long overdue — if also a belated acknowledgement that the Canada Revenue Agency has been repeatedly duped into paying out untold millions in bogus tax refunds to scammers.
Talking with an AI chatbot can successfully convince people to change their votes and could affect the outcome of future elections, according to a new study.
While some are writing wishlists for Santa Claus, a group of Newfoundland and Labrador youth are writing their wishlist for the provincial government.
A horse owner near Stewiacke, N.S., says the current shortage of hay in the province is putting pressure on her financially.