YEAR IN REVIEW
2021
The lack of affordable housing in the GTA is a crisis happening in real time, making our work to create a world where everyone has a safe, quality place to live more important than ever.
Shovels back in the ground. Habitat ReStore welcoming customers in person. Families walking into their new Habitat Homes – things started to feel more normal for all of us in parts of 2021. But with a real estate market out of control, the lack of affordable homes reached a tipping point, becoming the number one issue of concern for people living in the Greater Toronto Area.
This is why our work is more important than ever. And it’s why for 2021 our focus wasn’t just delivering as many affordable homes as possible, but also setting the groundwork to do even more in 2022.
These are our stories.
We Helped Lift Families to New Heights
Everything we do is to support families. This year we helped 23 families like Jihan’s know the safety, comfort and security that comes from owning a Habitat home. It was a day she thought would never happen. Jihan tells us how she became a proud, confident, accomplished mom after receiving the keys to her Habitat home.
We Started Construction on ANOTHER 50 Unit Community
485 Normandy Street in Oshawa, where generous support from the Region of Durham, the City of Oshawa, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), corporate groups, and volunteers enabled us to break ground. With the continued support of donors and volunteers, we will be positioned to complete more than half of this community by the end of 2022, with move-ins beginning in 2023. To help make this a reality, we invite you to donate or volunteer with us!
Our New Map Tool Lets You View All Our Builds
New Challenges = New Partnerships
In response to a formidable housing market and the changing landscape of the GTA, we’re evolving to make sure vulnerable families aren’t left behind. We’re forming new major partnerships today to respond to the challenges of tomorrow.
Habitat GTA helped create Community Affordable Housing Solutions (CAHS), an affordable housing land trust that received $17 million in support from several private developers. CAHS aims to bridge the gap between the private sector and municipalities to create affordable housing options to support individuals and families across the housing spectrum and to preserve and renew existing affordable housing.
We continued our work with community-minded developers to create affordable housing solutions throughout the city.
We also celebrated as 8 new Habitat homeowners moved into condominiums at 70 Carlton Street in downtown Toronto thanks to our promising new partnership with Tribute Communities.
We secured 8 condominium units at 159 Wellesley Street thanks to a partnership with Alterra and Diamondcorp and Kilmer Group, giving 8 Habitat families access to affordable 2 and 3 bedroom homes in downtown Toronto.
We learned how life is becoming better for the Hoyos Family at DuEast condominiums in Regent Park, made possible by our longstanding partners The Daniels Corporation.
We also continued our work with the BlackNorth Initiative to support the creation of more affordable housing for black communities in the GTA. Currently, homeownership levels for black families across Canada sit at 25% while for white families, that number is nearly triple. With education and awareness such a critical component of change, our CEO moderated a panel discussion on Systemic Racism, Housing and the Realities of Black Canadians hosted by the Empire Club, and gave a glimpse at what’s to come from the new partnership of our organizations.
We Raised Our Voice for Housing
As the GTA becomes more unaffordable, we are faced with more and more stories of families whose struggle is real – from those who’ve had to make difficult decisions regarding groceries and nutrition to those who worry about the safety of their kids in their neighbourhood. It’s why we’re compelled to speak up.
We are a credible and trusted voice, raising the alarm for how the housing affordability crisis affects families in countless ways, many of them unseen. Our CEO, Ene Underwood, published a new blog posting monthly about the ripple effects of an out of control real estate market.
Ene was also appointed to the Ontario Government's Housing Affordability Task Force who will provide the government with recommendations on additional measures to address market housing supply and affordability.
We are committed to partnering with government and other housing advocates to get results on affordable housing solutions. We were active in consultations with the City of Toronto on Inclusionary Zoning, helping to shape affordable housing definitions and ensuring the needs of our region's underrepresented communities are heard.
The Great Housing Affordability Crisis of our Time Since 2005:
Toronto is now the fifth most unaffordable city in the world. During the pandemic, lower-income families saw their wages drop while GTA home prices rose 30%. Incomes for racialized Torontonians haven’t gone up since 1980.
Young People are Volunteering for Habitat GTA Like Never Before
We are fuelled by the countless people who give us the ultimate gift – their time. Volunteers come from all ages and backgrounds, but this year in particular it was youth who chose to volunteer with Habitat GTA. 70 high school students and post-secondary internships supported our mission through Habitat ReStore, build sites, and nearly every team that moves our work forward.
Our construction sites in particular – where we build homes for families – saw support from numerous community partners, including Centennial College, Humber College, Guelph-Humber, YMCA Summer Student Exchange program, George Brown College, York University – and Durham College.
Our Corporate Partners Were There for Us
In September, corporate teams picked up their hardhats and helped build homes alongside future Habitat homeowners, volunteers and our crew at our Normandy Street site in Oshawa. For the first time since March 2020, we welcomed back 18 corporate teams to take part in our builds – including 156 people – who contributed more than 900 volunteer hours.
Bank of America committed to providing us with an $8.5-million loan at a 1% rate of interest, giving us greater capacity to build even more affordable homes for local families.
We Received a Gracious Gift… from Someone We Never Got to Thank
Muriel Dobbie was not known to Habitat GTA until we received a cheque in the mail for half a million dollars from her estate. To our surprise, we received additional cheques throughout the year totalling 1-million dollars. An inspiration to us all at Habitat GTA, Muriel Dobbie chose to leave a gift to several charities in her will, and we were one of them.
Her incredible gesture will help us offer a financial literacy training program for all our partner families and support our build projects in the city of Toronto. Without a doubt, her estate gift will leave an eternal legacy for generations to come.
Thank you Muriel.
habitatrestore.ca got a fresh new look
We completely revamped our online shopping experience at Habitat ReStore, making it possible for you to browse, buy and have items delivered to your door. Customers can browse our inventory of items online from the comfort of your own home, and support local while doing so.
At the same time, we fully re-opened all 12 of our locations for in-store shopping and donations. Whether you prefer shopping in-person or online, we’ve got you covered.
2022
In 2022, construction boots will be on the ground at 485 Normandy Street, 25 William Street and 423 Old Weston Road as we move forward in creating communities and 68 new homes for future Habitat families. With a mix of Habitat GTA builds and Habitat homes delivered through developer partnerships, we will have 12 active communities under construction across the GTA.
The housing affordability crisis will continue to present new challenges for us all, but Habitat for Humanity GTA will continue to be there to meet them. Habitat Homeownership empowers families to build equity, self-reliance, safety and above all – a better quality of life.
Thank you to our entire community who helps us make it all happen.
It wouldn't have been Possible without Our Supporters
| VISIONARIES - $150,000 + |
| The Hawkins Family |
| Ed and Fran Clark & Clark Family Foundation |
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| In Memory of Wladyslaw |
| Estate of Muriel Dobbie |
| Anonymous Donor |
| GROUNDBREAKERS - $80,000 - $149,999 |
| The Johnston Family Foundation |
| INNOVATORS - $50,000 - $79,999 |
| Estate of Bruno Nielsen |
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| Peter, Catherine, Michael & Graham Clark |
| The Estate of Beverley Jean Reid |
| ARCHITECTS - $25,000 - $49,999 |
| Kate Subak |
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| Martin Blake |
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| DESIGNERS - $10,000 - $24,999 |
| Anne Mackay |
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