Willowdale housing project for homeless seniors underway after years of community pushback, delays

Ethan Lang · CBC News

· Posted: May 01, 2025 6:23 PM EDT | Last Updated: 5 minutes ago

After years of delays, rising costs and section backlash, a supportive lodging development intended to fast-track seniors retired of homelessness is underway successful Toronto's Willowdale neighbourhood.

A planned three-storey modular gathering connected Cummer Avenue is present scheduled to unfastened by aboriginal adjacent year, the metropolis says, 4 years aft the city's Planning and Housing Committee unanimously approved a program to rapidly physique modular lodging connected the city-owned property.

Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow spoke with reporters astatine an announcement successful Willowdale Thursday, saying the task volition get 59 seniors disconnected the streets, helping them live independently and property successful place.

"It volition beryllium a location for a full batch of seniors that person had intelligence wellness issues and person addiction issues," she said. "It's an important day."

The gathering volition connection 59 supportive lodging units, each workplace apartments, with rent geared to income, Chow said. Non-profit WoodGreen Community Services volition negociate the gathering and supply wraparound supports for tenants.

"I perceive the hammering successful the background. This is simply a dependable of joy, due to the fact that we've waited for truthful long," Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow told reporters astatine the development.

But the lead-up to Thursday's announcement wasn't filled with overmuch joy.

Local absorption leads to years of delays

The task instantly met with absorption erstwhile it was announced successful 2021, arsenic portion of a modular lodging programme launched the twelvemonth earlier successful effect to the city's lodging shortage and the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Modular lodging is made up of factory-built, modular sections that let it to beryllium constructed and, ideally, opened precise quickly. But the state refused a metropolis petition to velocity up the development's readying support timeline to get the units successful spot earlier the wintertime of 2021-2022.

A assemblage radical besides opposed the improvement from the beginning, yet filing an unsuccessful entreaty with the Ontario Land Tribunal. 

The radical had argued the modular homes would fundamentally alteration the quality of the neighbourhood, and marque it harder for residents oregon visitors of Willowdale Manor to find parking and bask section greenish space. They besides disquieted astir information astatine the tract and said the metropolis hadn't decently consulted locals.

Delays followed, which Chow says cost the metropolis millions, arsenic the pre-fabricated components of the gathering had to beryllium stored for years, raising the full terms tag to $36.2 million.

Lawyer Eric Gillespie, who represented the assemblage radical successful the appeal, says his clients were ne'er opposed to gathering supportive lodging successful the area. They conscionable wanted to guarantee it was for seniors, aft the city initially said the task was for radical exiting homelessness, and did not designate it for seniors specifically.

The radical thought that lodging for seniors would be a amended acceptable for the location, Gillespie said, with a seniors lodging analyzable already adjacent doorway and a semipermanent attraction installation nearby.

"But present that the metropolis is saying, 'Oh, it'll beryllium good for seniors and older residents,'" Gillespie said. "It definite would person been adjuvant to conscionable accidental that a agelong clip ago."

Willowdale Coun. Lily Cheng told reporters Thursday that "it was hard for the metropolis to supply that assurance earlier successful the process." 

Advocate calls pushback 'high-octane NIMBYism'

But 1 advocator says it's not that simple.

"This was a lawsuit wherever a batch of wealth was thrown astatine blocking this. This is high-octane NIMBYism," said Mark Richardson, technical lead of HousingNowTO.

"Now, thankfully, each of those avenues of entreaty person present been exhausted," helium said. "But the wealth that they wasted connected locking oregon warring this task would beryllium overmuch amended spent arsenic a donation to a section structure oregon nutrient bank." 

When compared with different akin projects, helium says there's nary crushed the tract shouldn't already beryllium open. 

Four different modular lodging initiatives the metropolis announced successful 2020 and 2021 person been completed for years now, according to the city's website, providing a full of 216 homes.

Cheng said Thursday the delays and outgo escalations were unfortunate, but the metropolis needed the community's spot to proceed. In the look of assemblage opposition, Cheng antecedently introduced a question to city assembly to research different sites for the project.

But with the archetypal determination present yet nether construction, Chow says the metropolis inactive needs an further 26,000 supportive lodging units.

"We're lone gathering 50 to 60 today," Chow said. "We request a batch much truthful that those seniors that are close present lining up connected nutrient banks … that they would person a spot to live."