TORONTO, August 6, 2026 – A group of rental housing projects in Toronto that have already completed planning or received approvals, but have not yet moved to construction, will receive new financial support. Prime Minister Mark Carney announced that the federal government will invest more than $2.7 billion in Toronto over the next three years, working with the City to advance more than 18 housing projects that are expected to add more than 5,600 rental homes.
About 1,800 of those units will be affordable housing, supportive housing or rent-controlled housing. The rest will include regular rental housing. In other words, the more than 5,600 homes announced under the plan will not all be low-rent units, and the future rent levels for ordinary tenants will depend on each project.
Carney said many projects in Toronto are not stalled because of a lack of land or approvals, but because financing costs and funding gaps have prevented them from actually breaking ground. The focus of this partnership is to move these “ready-to-build” projects into construction as quickly as possible.
This is also what makes the plan different from simply announcing long-term housing targets. In recent years, Toronto has approved a large number of rental and affordable housing projects, but the gap between approval and construction can still be delayed by building costs, interest rates, development charges and financing conditions.
For residents, one of the most important questions is what “affordable housing” actually means in dollar terms. Toronto currently has its own affordability standards. For 2026, the City’s official affordable rent levels are $1,127 per month for a studio, $1,426 for a one-bedroom unit, $2,055 for a two-bedroom unit and $2,351 for a three-bedroom unit. The standard uses the lower of two calculations: household income and average market rent.
However, this does not mean all 1,800 units will eventually be rented at the same prices listed above. “Supportive housing,” “rent-controlled housing” and “affordable housing” are different categories. Specific rents, eligibility rules and application methods will still depend on the agreements for each project.
The government has also not yet released the full addresses of all 18-plus projects or the application timelines for each building. As a result, residents cannot directly apply for these units at this stage. What will matter next is which neighbourhoods receive new projects, how many units are set aside specifically for low-income households, and when tenant registration will open.
Toronto has been trying for years to expand purpose-built rental housing. City Council also approved moving ahead with the second phase of the Purpose-Built Rental Housing Incentives program this year, with the goal of supporting up to another 10,000 rental homes, including at least 2,000 affordable units, while reducing project construction costs through tools such as development charge deferrals.
The $2.7-billion investment means governments are now trying to address the problem of projects that have already been approved but cannot start because the money is not in place.
For residents facing high rents, however, the true measure of this plan will not be how much funding is announced. It will be whether these homes start construction on schedule over the next few years, when people can actually move in, and how many of the units ultimately rent below regular market levels.（LJI by Yuanyuan）
