United Way Launches $100M Community Real Estate Initiative in GTA
United Way Greater Toronto (UWGT) has launched a $100-million community real estate Initiative designed to enhance community infrastructure across the Greater Toronto Area.
The initiative aims to address the region’s affordability crisis, which is exacerbated by unprecedented population growth and rising rental costs, impacting both housing and essential community service spaces, said UWGT in a news release.
The program will create 10 new community hubs over the next decade and provide community organizations with secure, sustainable space to continue their work.
“Unprecedented population growth is transforming the GTA and rising rental costs have created a housing affordability crisis that also affects essential community service spaces – 70% of which are leased – pushing them out of neighbourhoods across Peel, Toronto, and York Region.
As part of the initiative, UWGT will distribute $1.8 million in grants to cover pre-development costs, exploring alternative financing options like community loans, and building organizational capacity through real estate expertise. The project has begun in partnership with the City of Toronto, starting with a new hub in Parkdale and aiming to expand to Peel and York Region.
“United Way Greater Toronto’s goal is to create, facilitate, and support community real estate infrastructure that sustains and empowers neighbourhoods across the region for the long term,” says Ruth Crammond, vice-president of community infrastructure at UWGT.
“In our fight against poverty, we are leveraging the power of philanthropy, partnerships, and people to ensure equitable community development and secure essential services, so everyone has the building blocks to thrive.”
The new initiative is grounded in findings from Essential Spaces: Real (Solutions) for Community Needs, a report revealing that GTA occupancy costs for rented spaces have surged by as much as 57% over the last decade.
“The GTA’s community services sector is critical to supporting the well-being of residents, but its ability to do so depends on having stable, accessible spaces,” says Matti Siemiatycki, director of the Infrastructure Institute at the University of Toronto.
“Our research shows that there are serious challenges in securing suitable, affordable real estate. This announcement marks a significant step forward in creating a more co-ordinated, comprehensive approach to community real estate, ensuring that vital services have the space we all need.”
UWGT is the largest non-government funder of community services in the GTA.
The infrastructure institute is a training, advisory and interdisciplinary research hub at the U of T’s School of Cities, which seeks to build local and global expertise in infrastructure planning, decision-making, and delivery.
Pictured: Map examining the real estate landscape of the Greater Toronto Area’s community services sector as of 2021.
Illustration: CNW Group/UWGT
- ◦Development
- ◦Financing