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

Widening inequities: Long-term housing affordability in the Toronto CMA

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Unhappy frustrated couple sitting on couch with cardboard boxes, eviction, family having problem with dwelling, money or mortgage, worried woman and man lost home, bankruptcy or debt concept

This paper examines long-term population-level housing affordability challenges and trends in the Toronto Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) from 1991 to 2016. This project’s goal is to analyze how housing affordability has changed for the general population and for different socio-demographic groups over this 25-year study period. Affordability is measured using shelter cost to income ratio […]

Continue ReadingWidening inequities: Long-term housing affordability in the Toronto CMA  Download PublicationWidening inequities Long-term housing affordability

A new normal for ending homelessness: Collective action towards adequate support

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Homeless tent camp in the park

The pandemic and the associated recession provide an opportunity for us to reconsider the ‘normal’ state of affairs. Now is the time to envision a bold new normal and learn from the failures of the previous status quo. The old normal In the years leading up to the COVID-19 pandemic, the estimated number of Canadians […]

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Hiking the rent when doing repairs: Above Guideline Increases in Toronto

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a professional master (roofer) with electric screwdriver covers repairs the roof

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

Where eviction applications are filed: Ward distribution of eviction applications in Toronto

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victorian style homes in Toronto

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

Healthy Affordable Housing : Solutions to the Private Rental Problem

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apartment building in Toronto

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 […]

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Crowded housing and COVID-19: Impacts and solutions

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The evidence in Toronto is clear: overcrowded housing is associated with increased COVID-19 infection rate. When people have insufficient space to socially distance or self-isolate if they are sick, it makes people more vulnerable to contracting COVID-19. In the City of Toronto, overcrowded housing conditions have left 12 per cent of private households more vulnerable […]

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Building Health: Canada’s opportunity to improve housing affordability

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Decent, safe, and affordable housing is an absolute foundation for healthy lives. Research has shown the critical links between housing and health. Without appropriate and secure housing, our health suffers, our mental health deteriorates, we are more stressed. Without affordable housing we may need to skip on food or medications in order to pay the […]

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Cutting tenant protections will harm our health

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Recently, there has been talk of possible policy changes that could affect tenant protections in Ontario. These include shortening eviction timelines, allowing private bailiffs to enforce evictions, and perhaps removing Landlord Tenant Board hearings altogether for certain evictions. While up-to-date information on evictions – both formal and informal – are difficult to acquire, we know […]

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Acknowledgement of Traditional Land

We wish to acknowledge this land on which the Wellesley Institute operates. For thousands of years it has been the traditional land of the Huron-Wendat, the Seneca, and the Mississaugas of the Credit. Today, this meeting place is still the home to many Indigenous people from across Turtle Island and we are grateful to have the opportunity to work on this land.

Revised by the Ceremonial Committee at the University of Toronto Office of Indigenous Initiatives in April 2021.