Wellesley Institute

Wellesley Institute works in research and policy to improve health and health equity in the GTA through action on the social determinants of health.

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Housing

Building on Collaboration: Learnings from Toronto’s Supportive Housing System

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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, […]

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Tight rental markets in the GTA and low incomes set people up for discrimination

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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

New resource guide on Housing for People with Mental Health and Addictions Issues Now Available

Addictions and Mental Health Ontario, CMHA Ontario, Wellesley Institute |

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

Seeking Supportive Housing: Characteristics, Needs and Outcomes of Applicants to The Access Point Full Report

Frank Sirotich, Anna Durbin, Greg Suttor, Seong-gee Um and Lin Fang |

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

Seeking Supportive Housing: Characteristics, Needs and Outcomes of Applicants to The Access Point – Summary Report

Frank Sirotich, Anna Durbin, Greg Suttor, Seong-gee Um and Lin Fang |

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

Seeking Supportive Housing: Characteristics, Needs and Outcomes of Applicants to The Access Point – Highlights

Frank Sirotich, Anna Durbin, Greg Suttor, Seong-gee Um and Lin Fang |

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

Submission on Proposed Inclusionary Zoning Regulations

Greg Suttor, Scott Leon |

Housing is an important factor in health and well-being. People with low incomes or other disadvantages face large problems of housing affordability and quality, which is bad for health. Inclusionary zoning is a tool that can help provide affordable options, reduce housing problems, and build mixed communities. This brief suggests some modifications to the proposed […]

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Canada’s National Housing Strategy – Implications for Ontario and the Toronto area

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Housing investing concept with gold coins growing sprouts and a cut out house

Across Canada, people are examining what the National Housing Strategy (NHS) will mean. Our last two blogs summarized what’s in the Strategy and considered its strengths and soft areas. This one considers its implications for Ontario and the Toronto area. Sustaining and modernizing social housing Ontario’s Long-Term Affordable Housing Strategy (LTAHS, 2016) includes social housing […]

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Canada’s National Housing Strategy – The Strong, the Soft, and the Splashy

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Restored Victorian Housing

Our last blog summarized the content of the new National Housing Strategy, noting its many positives. This blog looks more closely at its strengths and soft spots, and how much difference it could make. Strategic turning point: The Strategy marks a turning point in Canadian housing policy, its significance akin to the shift to non-profit […]

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Canada’s National Housing Strategy – The Basic Facts

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Futuristic skyscape with sun shining through

The National Housing Strategy is the most keenly awaited housing news in years. It sets out goals and puts details on the broad strokes that were in the March 2017 federal budget, while adding a couple of new pieces. This blog summarizes what’s in the Strategy. Our next two blogs will assess the strengths and […]

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Acknowledgement of Traditional Land

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.