Toronto City council will be voting on October 1, 2021 (deferred from July 14, 2021) on new regulations on Rooming (multi-tenant) Housing that proposes in most residential neighbourhoods in Toronto (including Henry Farm Community) allowing a maximum of six dwelling rooms in a multi-tenant house.
For more information on the proposed regulations visit:
https://www.toronto.ca/community-people/get-involved/public-consultations/multi-tenant-rooming-house-review/
Please complete the petition below of the members of your family and neighbors.
Alternatively, you may deliver a handwritten letter to or email the president using the information below before Mon Sep 19, 2021:
Namby Vithiananthan, President, Henry Farm Interest Association,
25 Parfield Drive, Toronto, Ontario M2J 1C1
or email president@henryfarm.ca
All handwritten and internet-based petitions along with letters received will be forded to City Councillor and Mayor.
Petition Rules: Must contain the signature, unless delivered by e-mail, and the printed name and address of at least one signatory and, if possible, the printed name and address of all signatories.
THE HENRY FARM COMMUNITY INTEREST ASSOCIATION (HFCIA) RESPONSE TO THE CITY OF TORONTO’S PROPOSED ROOMING HOUSE REGULATIONS COMMUNICATED TO MAYOR TORY AND COUNCILLOR CARROLL IS AS FOLLOWS:
The new regulation of rooming houses, in our opinion, is an attempt for the city to pass the burden of creating affordable housing to family neighbourhoods. The increasingly common practice of gentrification in the City of Toronto has left our least fortunate without affordable accommodation.
The local government’s proven unwillingness and inability to create affordable housing is shamelessly being passed to private investors who will force those less fortunate into over-crowded homes and unregulated rental agreements based on private investors choice of rooming house locations. This will fundamentally change the communities that residents have worked so hard to create.
HFCIA experienced difficulties with a handful of rooming houses in our neighbourhood in the recent past. Our repeated efforts to obtain enforcement of the by-laws failed to get action from city officials.
During this year, HFCIA, after an enormous effort, was able to get city officials to act against blatant violations of Airbnb and Covid-19 regulations against one homeowner.
HFCIA has no confidence in the proposed new regulations with promises of rooming house regulation given the City’s failure to act to regulate unlicensed rooming houses and the new Airbnb regulations in these same neighbourhoods in the past.
Rather than forcing those less fortunate into exploitative rental agreements in cramped, unsuitable living conditions, the onus should be on the city of Toronto to incentivize developers to create suitable and sustainable housing options while maintaining the dignity and integrity of Toronto’s most treasured neighbourhood