Home truths, Part 1: Why affordable housing isn’t just a Toronto issue

Home truths, Part 1: Why affordable housing isn’t just a Toronto issue

This is Part 1 of a five-part TVO.org series looking at how Ontario’s affordable-housing crisis is playing out beyond the GTA. Click here for Part 2; watch for Part 3 on Wednesday.

“Homelessness and the lack of affordable housing are Ontario-wide problems, and not confined to Toronto. The plight of renters, as measured by the twin indicators of affordability and availability, is getting worse. The private rental market is not addressing these problems.”

You’d be forgiven for assuming that these words were written in 2019, given that the issue of affordable housing has been making headlines on a near-daily basis. But David Hulchanski, a professor of housing and community development at the University of Toronto, published them 17 years ago. “Actually,” Hulchanski says, “I started writing like that in the late ’70s and early ’80s.”

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