Author: Samira Prasad

City of Toronto celebrates creation of 92 new rent-geared-to-income homes with supports at former shelter-turned-permanent housing at 65 Dundas St. E.

Posted on by Samira Prasad

News release from The City of Toronto

Today, Mayor Olivia Chow officially marked the creation of 92 newly-renovated, permanent, rent-geared-to-income and supportive homes at 65 Dundas St. E. that now provide a warm, safe place for individuals formerly experiencing homelessness in the Downtown East to call home. This is the latest of several steps the City is taking to prioritize the creation of new rent-geared-to-income homes with supports as a response to the urgent need for new supportive housing.

This project is the largest shelter to housing conversion undertaken in Toronto, following other successful projects at 1430 Gerrard St. E., and 224 Spadina Ave., completed in 2021 and 2023.

These new homes were created through the acquisition and first phase of renovations at 65 Dundas St. E. (formerly the Bond Place Hotel). This property was leased by the City as a temporary shelter as an urgent response to the COVID-19 pandemic to provide additional space for physical distancing and respond to rising demand. In 2022 with federal funding under the Rapid Housing Initiative the City acquired the property, to undertake renovations and convert the shelter program into approximately 280 new permanent rental homes in the Downtown East. Once complete in Spring 2025, the building will offer homes for people earning a range of incomes and in need of an affordable home.

The renovated building includes new studio and one-bedroom apartments with a private bathroom and kitchenette and at least 15 per cent of the apartments will be accessible. Residents also have access to indoor amenity spaces such as shared laundry, a dining area, large communal, programming and tenant support spaces.

Advancing the Downtown East Action Plan

The creation of new supportive and affordable homes at 65 Dundas St. E. advances City Council’s commitments to provide increased supports for people experiencing marginalization and homelessness in the Downtown East neighbourhood, by providing deeply affordable housing with supports that will improve their health and well-being. The project will also enable the creation of mixed-income complete communities in the Downtown East area by providing affordable rental homes to renters on a range of incomes, including in the remaining 188 homes currently under renovation.

The City has partnered with Dixon Hall to create these new homes. Dixon Hall will lease and manage the building over a near 50-year term, and provide wrap-around support services to residents of the supportive homes. Having served residents of the Downtown East area for more than 90 years, Dixon Hall specializes in working with at-risk youth, seniors, adults with physical and mental disabilities, people experiencing homelessness, individuals searching for employment, those with mental health diagnoses, and newly immigrated individuals and their families.

Dixon Hall is working with other community-based service and health care providers such as MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions at St. Michael’s Hospital, Unity Health Toronto, and the Inner City Health Associates to ensure residents of 65 Dundas St. E. have access to a range of supports that meet their needs. Tenants can get access to health and wellness services such as medical and mental health care, education, training and employment opportunities, life skills training and supports, meals and food security programs, as well as help to access income assistance.

More information on the renovation of 65 Dundas St. E. can be found on the City’s website.

Intergovernmental partnership

The City received more than $123 million in capital funding from the Government of Canada through the first and second rounds of the Rapid Housing Initiative (RHI) to support the purchase and renovation of 65 Dundas St. E. The City supported this project through its own capital funding, and by providing financial incentives and relief from property taxes, estimated at $9.5 million. Finally, the Provincial government has provided $3.57 million in operating funding for wraparound support services to this project as part of its three-year commitment of $48 million made in 2023 towards supportive housing.

The City is currently providing accommodations to more than 12,200 people experiencing homelessness, and this figure continues to rise due to the rising housing affordability crisis. The need for affordable and supportive rental housing in Toronto remains urgent. The City is committed to addressing this gap through its HousingTO 2020-2030 Action Plan (HousingTO Plan), with targets to deliver 65,000 new rent-controlled homes including 41,000 affordable rental, 6,500 rent-geared-to-income (RGI) and 17,500 rent-controlled homes.

While the City is taking action to accelerate the creation of affordable rental housing, it needs additional and significant funding from other orders of government to meet the needs of Torontonians and future residents. The City continues to request approximately $7.6 to $8.1 billion in funding and $6.4 to $7 billion in low-cost financing from the federal government, and approximately $9.1 to $9.6 billion in funding and $6.4 to $7 billion in financing from the Province of Ontario to achieve the HousingTO targets over the next six years.

The City has also requested the provincial government to renew its $48 million operating funding commitment for another three years to ensure the ongoing stability of support services in over 3,000 existing supportive homes in Toronto. As well, the City has requested the Province to provide an additional $12 million in 2025 and annually thereafter for housing benefits and wraparound housing and social supports for over 300 new supportive homes funded and under construction in 2024.

More information on the City’s housing targets is available on the HousingTO Plan dashboard.

Quotes:

“65 Dundas isn’t just an address, it’s a beacon of hope for those previously unhoused. It’s an example of the power of what can happen when we work together to address some of our city’s biggest challenges, like the housing crisis. From starting as a temporary pandemic shelter, to now being a place that 92 residents can permanently call home – with 280 affordable rental homes by spring 2025 – this has been an incredible journey. Projects such as 65 Dundas St. E. demonstrate how partnerships between various orders of government and housing providers such as Dixon Hall can deliver innovative solutions that address the most urgent challenges of our time.”
– Mayor Olivia Chow

“Every Canadian deserves a safe and affordable place to call home. This investment, through the Rapid Housing Initiative, will provide stability and safety to those who need it the most. I’m proud that this major investment will help meet affordable housing needs in the city of Toronto, benefitting the most vulnerable in our region for decades to come. This is our government’s National Housing Strategy at work.”
– The Honourable Marci Ien, Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth, and Member of Parliament for Toronto Centre, on behalf of the Honourable Sean Fraser, Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities

“The former Bond Place Hotel has received a new lease of life, much like its new residents. Every day across the city, we see the unimaginable pain faced by people experiencing homelessness. We also see how lives can be transformed by providing these vulnerable individuals with homes they can afford, with access to supports. I am so pleased to see this project come to life in Toronto Centre and look forward to working with Dixon Hall to ensure the residents of 65 Dundas St. E. have every opportunity to feel welcome and find success in our community.”
– Councillor Chris Moise (Toronto-Centre)

“65 Dundas St. E. was a critical shelter for the Downtown East community during the COVID-19 crisis, providing safe refuge when it was most needed. Today, with the support of the City, it is being transformed into deeply supportive housing, offering not only a stable home, but also a compassionate environment for individuals rebuilding their lives. This site now stands as a testament to resilience and renewal, and we are deeply grateful to the City and our partners for making this life-changing impact possible.”
– Mina Mawani, Chief Executive Officer, Dixon Hall

Toronto is home to more than three million people whose diversity and experiences make this great city Canada’s leading economic engine and one of the world’s most diverse and livable cities. As the fourth largest city in North America, Toronto is a global leader in technology, finance, film, music, culture and innovation and climate action, and consistently places at the top of international rankings due to investments championed by its government, residents and businesses. For more information visit the City’s website or follow us on X , Instagram or Facebook .

Media Relations

media@toronto.ca

MAP scientist Dr. Mikaela Gabriel awarded Canada Research Chair

Posted on by Samira Prasad

November 14, 2024
By Samira Prasad

Today, the Government of Canada announced that MAP scientist Dr. Mikaela Gabriel has been awarded a Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Women’s and Two-Spirit Mental Health and Homelessness.

“This Canada Research Chair means a lot to me both professionally and personally,” shared Dr. Gabriel. “Mental health and housing are so intertwined, and it is really important for them to be understood and addressed together.”

Dr. Gabriel’s research explores Indigenous health and wellbeing, urban cultural connection, and housing transitions for Indigenous Peoples in Canada. Her primary focus area is the promotion of positive cultural identity, strength, and healing through traditional knowledge and cultural support. As an Indigenous researcher, Dr. Gabriel also prioritizes the integration of ceremony and culture when it comes to mental health and housing.

“Bringing these elements together can create a holistic healing journey,” said Dr. Gabriel.

As a practicing clinical and counselling psychologist, Dr. Gabriel has provided mental health care across inpatient, outpatient and community mental health treatment settings, and currently works supporting Indigenous urban mental health treatment in Toronto.

“I look forward to continuing to examine the intersection of the needs and lived realities of Indigenous women and Two-Spirit people when it comes to housing and health,” says Dr. Gabriel. “I particularly want to understand how to make mental health care safe for these communities to navigate, and create the tools to support them in doing so.”

While all gender identities are represented among the unhoused Indigenous population across cities in Canada, Indigenous women and Two-Spirit peoples experience further barriers due to complex health needs, systemic discrimination, and sexual violence. Many have negative experiences with mental health care services and supports, and some endure violence and abuse in order to remain housed. Dr. Gabriel’s work looks to change these experiences, and she ensures her research reflects the community’s priorities and what she learns in her clinical practice.

“This research chair allows me to focus on investigating the issues and identifying the solutions that really work, which is the first step to ensuring Indigenous women and Two-Spirit people across Canada can access culturally safe healthcare, as well as safe homes without the risk of violence and abuse,” said Dr. Gabriel.

MAP is now home to nine Canada Research Chairs total:

MAP Director Dr. Stephen Hwang awarded Tier 1 Canada Research Chair

Posted on by Samira Prasad

November 14, 2024
By Samira Prasad and Emily Holton

Today, the Government of Canada announced that MAP Director and scientist Dr. Stephen Hwang has been awarded a prestigious Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Homelessness, Housing, and Health, the first-ever Canada Research Chair on this topic.

“Being awarded a Canada Research Chair is a wonderful acknowledgement of the work my team and I are doing on homelessness and health,” Dr. Hwang shared. “It reflects our commitment to this work and it’s really great to see this area being recognized as important and worthy of scientific research.”

Dr. Hwang is one of the world’s most renowned researchers in homelessness, housing and health. He started his career at Harvard, Johns Hopkins University, and University of Toronto. He then chose to practice medicine in Boston’s Healthcare for the Homeless Program, where he went on to become medical director. Dr. Hwang was recruited to St. Michael’s as a physician and researcher in 1996. He became the director of MAP (then known as Centre for Research on Inner City Health) in 2015.

Dr. Hwang’s early work focused on establishing the links between homelessness, precarious housing and poor health. He published one of the first-ever papers in a general medical journal on this topic. A later ground-breaking study was the first to quantify the profound impact that homelessness can have on a person’s life expectancy. He also led the first national study to track the health and housing status of people who are “vulnerably housed,” i.e. spending more than 50 per cent of income on rent.

“I wanted to help advocates make their arguments for change, and to help define homelessness and precarious housing as critical health issues that urgently needed to be addressed,” said Dr. Hwang.

Over time, Dr. Hwang’s work changed in focus from defining problems to developing solutions. Dr. Hwang co-led the At Home/Chez Soi study, the largest randomized controlled trial in history to evaluate solutions to address homelessness, including the “Housing First” model, and he continues to investigate and tailor this model today.

“We know that Housing First is effective, and what we want to tackle now is how we adapt it to the challenges we see today, and improve all-around health and wellness,” he shared. “We want to demonstrate to people across Canada that there are effective interventions to improve, and even end chronic homelessness, and this research allows us to show this in a way that is based in rigorous science.”

As an internal-medicine physician at St. Michael’s Hospital and at Seaton House, a homeless shelter for men in Toronto, Dr. Hwang sees firsthand the real and pressing issues around barriers to appropriate healthcare for this population, and his Navigator project looks to address this nationwide. Dr. Hwang says he is excited to continue to create and evaluate programs to improve the health outcomes of people experiencing homelessness and precarious housing, with a special focus on effective implementation so that they reach those who could benefit the most.

“The Canada Research Chair supports the work of my team and enables our collaboration with government agencies and non profits,” said Dr. Hwang. “Collaboration and teamwork allow us to more effectively serve people experiencing homelessness in our community in a way that truly makes their lives better.”

MAP is now home to nine Canada Research Chairs total:

‘There already aren’t enough’: A doctor on the impact of closing Toronto’s safe-consumption sites

Posted on by Samira Prasad

Dr. Ahmed Bayoumi was interviewed by TVO Today and spoke about his new research estimating the effects of the scheduled closures of some Ontario safe-consumption sites. “The most important take-home message is this: there already aren’t enough sites in Toronto. Closing these sites will decrease access to a lot of people who benefit from them,” says Dr. Bayoumi.