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Michael Shapcott

Inclusionary rules turn new homes into affordable homes

Statistics Canada says that 196,700 new homes will start construction this year (using the seasonally-adjusted annual rate for February, 2010). The Wellesley Institute has launched an inclusionary housing micro-site with a number of our partners that includes research and policy materials on inclusionary housing practices in Canada and case studies from the United States. If Canadian provinces and municipalities were to adopt US-style inclusionary housing practices, that could create 30,000+ new affordable homes (using a modest, 15% affordable requirement). While a growing number of Canadian municipalities are looking at planning and zoning techniques to encourage affordable homes, Canada hasn’t yet followed the lead of hundreds of US cities and adopted mandatory rules that set a uniform standard for all new developments.

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Michael Shapcott

Michael Shapcott

Michael Shapcott is Director, Affordable Housing and Social Innovation at Wellesley Institute. Michael has worked extensively in Toronto, in many parts of Canada, nationally and internationally on social innovation, the non-profit sector, civic engagement, housing and housing rights, poverty, social exclusion, urban health and health equity. He is recognized as one of Canada’s leading community-based housing and homelessness experts. He is currently on secondment to the Princes' Charities Canada.

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.