Wellesley Institute works in research and policy to improve health and health equity in the GTA through action on the social determinants of health.
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Toronto had been facing a crisis in housing affordability. Furthermore, during the pandemic many renters have lost their employment. Following the lifting of the provincial moratorium, this has put many at risk of arrears debt, and evictions. Rent increases can exacerbate affordability and arrears challenges, and so understanding them is […]
Continue ReadingHiking the rent when doing repairs: Above Guideline Increases in Toronto Download PublicationBrief 3 – AGIs
The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the urgency surrounding residential evictions. Evictions have the potential to disrupt the public health responses to COVID-19, magnify the associated recession, and disrupt tenants’ lives. All of these outcomes would have negative impacts on population health and well-being. Data shows that over 10 per cent of rental units in Toronto […]
Continue ReadingRenovictions, demovictions, landlord’s own-use evictions, and more Download PublicationBrief 2 – Eviction applications unrelated to owed rent
The COVID-19 pandemic has heightened the urgency to understand and address residential evictions. In Ontario, eviction hearings have resumed digitally and at a fast pace. Many renters have been unable to pay their rent in full, which has increased the possibility of mass arrears (accumulation of rent owed), and related evictions. Evictions have the potential […]
Continue ReadingWhere eviction applications are filed: Ward distribution of eviction applications in Toronto Download PublicationBrief 1 – Ward Distribution of Evictions
Wellesley Institute was awarded funding by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s Solution Lab Program to work collaboratively with building owners, tenants and stakeholders to improve healthy housing quality in the private rental problem. Beginning in 2019, Wellesley worked with SHS Consulting ,experts in housing development policy and research, to understand the current state of apartment […]
Continue ReadingHealthy Affordable Housing : Solutions to the Private Rental Problem
Mental health supportive housing relies on municipal-health sector collaboration. It straddles the Local Health Integration Network (LHIN) mandate of coordinating integrated local health systems and the municipal responsibility for local housing and homelessness initiatives. In recent years, municipalities and LHINs have initiated collaborative work to address the overlap of their roles in supportive housing. However, […]
Continue ReadingBuilding on Collaboration: Learnings from Toronto’s Supportive Housing System Download PublicationBuilding on Collaboration
By Nazeefah Laher and Anjana Aery In a competitive rental market, there are barriers that go beyond high housing costs and limited supply. People in racialized groups, with disabilities, or on social assistance are particularly vulnerable to discrimination. The Ontario Human Rights Code provides legal protection for people seeking housing, protecting people on 14 identified […]
Continue ReadingTight rental markets in the GTA and low incomes set people up for discrimination
Promising Practices: 12 Case Studies in Supportive Housing for People with Mental Health and Addiction Issues is a resource guide developed by Addictions and Mental Health Ontario, CMHA Ontario and the Wellesley Institute. The guide shares the innovative ways that supportive housing providers across the province have overcome challenges and identifies three main areas for […]
Continue ReadingNew resource guide on Housing for People with Mental Health and Addictions Issues Now Available Download PublicationPromising Practices in Supportive Housing Resource Guide
Supportive housing is the key to ending chronic homelessness, and provides a stable foundation for people living with mental illness or addictions. In Toronto, people apply for this housing through The Access Point, a community agency that works with housing providers. More than 14,000 people are on this waiting list. What are the characteristics of […]
Continue ReadingSeeking Supportive Housing: Characteristics, Needs and Outcomes of Applicants to The Access Point Full Report Download PublicationSeeking Supportive Housing: Characteristics, Needs and Outcomes of Applicants to The Access Point – Full Report
Supportive housing is the key to ending chronic homelessness, and provides a stable foundation for people living with mental illness or addictions. In Toronto, people apply for this housing through The Access Point, a community agency that works with housing providers. More than 14,000 people are on this waiting list. What are the characteristics of […]
Continue ReadingSeeking Supportive Housing: Characteristics, Needs and Outcomes of Applicants to The Access Point – Summary Report Download PublicationSeeking Supportive Housing: Characteristics, Needs and Outcomes of Applicants to The Access Point Summary Report
Supportive housing is the key to ending chronic homelessness, and provides a stable foundation for people living with mental illness or addictions. In Toronto, people apply for this housing through The Access Point, a community agency that works with housing providers. More than 14,000 people are on this waiting list. What are the characteristics of […]
Continue ReadingSeeking Supportive Housing: Characteristics, Needs and Outcomes of Applicants to The Access Point – Highlights Download PublicationSeeking Supportive Housing: Characteristics, Needs and Outcomes of Applicants to The Access Point Highlights
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We would like to acknowledge this sacred land on which the Wellesley Institute operates. It has been a site of human activity for 15,000 years. This land is the territory of the Huron-Wendat and Petun First Nations, the Seneca, and most recently, the Mississaugas of the Credit River. The territory was the subject of the Dish With One Spoon Wampum Belt Covenant, an agreement between the Iroquois Confederacy and Confederacy of the Ojibwe and allied nations to peaceably share and care for the resources around the Great Lakes.
Today, the meeting place of Toronto is still the home to many Indigenous people from across Turtle Island and we are grateful to have the opportunity to work in the community, on this territory.
Revised by the Elders Circle (Council of Aboriginal Initiatives) on November 6, 2014
In the spirit of equity and inclusion, if we can improve on this statement, please contact us. Thank you.