The Federation of North Toronto Residents’ Associations Incorporated (FoNTRA) is a not for profit organization now comprised of over 30 residents’ associations, located between Bloor Street, Sheppard Avenue, the Don Valley Parkway and Bathurst Street in the City of Toronto. We monitor, investigate and help solve urban planning issues, share best practices and represent common interests of our members with all levels of government.
Current Issues
Toronto city council passes plan to entice developers to build rental homes
Toronto city council has approved a plan to support the building of 20,000 new rental homes in the city.
The plan, approved Wednesday by a vote of 23 to 1, would see the city offer monetary incentives to private developers to build rental housing. The incentives include a deferral of development charges, a property tax reduction and foregone taxes and fees for affordable rental units.
Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow told reporters before the vote that rental housing is desperately needed in the city because of the housing crisis. She said 50 per cent of Toronto residents are renters. She said the city met with builders last week to discuss the plan.
Mayor Chow proposing big change that would see buildings go up all over Toronto
Mayor Olivia Chow has proposed a major change to the process of how housing is built in Toronto, one that would allow a new generation of buildings to pop up on major streets across the city.
Chow is looking to implement sweeping as-of-right zoning on Toronto’s avenues that would allow for drastic changes in the city’s built form.
Toronto’s development scene has been dominated by tall towers in recent years, but Chow’s new push to change zoning regulations could result in a more Parisian style of residential density becoming the norm in town.
Rachel Chernos Lin Wins Don Valley West By-Election
Rachel Chernos Lin has won the Don Valley West by-election with nearly 55 percent of the vote, beating competitor Anthony Furey by more than 20 points in what began as a wide-open race, but had in recent weeks become a battle of political polarization between the two leading candidates.
Chernos Lin, a Toronto District School Board trustee and the current chair, ended the night with 12,899 votes, followed by Furey with 7,343. Sam Robinson, son of former ward councillor Jaye Robinson, came in third with 1,271 votes.
Heritage planning and designation
FoNTRA recognizes the immense challenge imposed by the provincial government’s deadline for designation of listed properties, and the threat to loss of Toronto’s cultural heritage. We strongly support the City’s approach to moving forward with prioritization of listed properties, and measures to maintain an ongoing inventory going forward.
As such, we are also strongly in support of the Toronto Preservation Board’s recommendations concerning the report, namely that:
- City Council request the Ontario Minister of Citizenship and Multiculturalism to extend the deadline for elimination of listed properties from the Heritage Register to Jan 1, 2030.
- City Council direct the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning to maintain a publicly accessible inventory of all listed properties eliminated from the Heritage Register.
Improving Community Consultation – Housing Action Plan
FoNTRA requeststhat consideration of the report be deferred to allow for proper communication, engagement and consultation for its proposals and recommendations.
FoNTRA supports the objectives of the Housing Action Plan, but the detailed recommendations introduce many changes and the Draft Bylaw which includes the zoning provisions, zoning maps and height maps was only made public a day and a half before the Committee meeting, with inadequate time to review. In addition, drawings to show the new proposals have not been provided.
Over 850 trees bulldozed at Ontario Place under cover of darkness, as Province releases Therme lease details
Under cover of darkness, Infrastructure Ontario began the removal of 865 trees at Ontario Place on the evening of Wednesday, October 2, 2024. Within a single day, workers had cut down the vast majority of those trees.
The work—which includes the removal of every single tree on the western portion of the waterfront site adjacent downtown Toronto—is part of the approximately $200-million in site preparations that taxpayers are funding to prepare the land for Therme, an Austrian spa company, to develop a stadium-sized indoor waterpark on the site.
The next day, October 3, the Province released the details of its 95-year lease with Therme, which journalists and grassroots organizations have…
