The City of Toronto has partnered with the LiUNA Pension Fund of Central and Eastern Canada, Fengate Asset Management and The Hi-Rise Group to start construction of purpose-built rental housing project in Mount Dennis.

The Dennis, located on Locust Street, will provide 448 rental homes including 89 affordable rental homes. The project is one of the first supported through the city’s Purpose-Built Rental Housing Incentives stream.

The city’s contribution through the program is valued at approximately $29 million. The city is also providing an indefinite deferral of development charges and a 15 percent property tax reduction for the purpose-built rental homes, as well as a full exemption of all development fees and charges, and property taxes for the affordable rental homes for 40 years. 

“The City of Toronto is taking bold steps to build more affordable homes for Torontonians,” said Mayor Olivia Chow. “Through our incentive program that waives development charges and taxes, we’re breaking ground on 448 new homes in York South-Weston – with 20 percent designated affordable. The Dennis is proof that our approach providing incentives, waiving fees, and speeding up approvals can help get shovels in the ground and deliver more affordable housing for Torontonians.”  

The city launched the Purpose-built Rental Housing Incentives Stream, a component of the Rental Housing Supply Program, in November 2024 and approved over 8,000 rental homes, including 2,000 affordable rental homes, to benefit from a range of financial incentives estimated to cost the city approximately $457.5 million. 

The initiative is part of the city’s broader work to deliver rent-controlled, affordable rental and rent-geared-to income homes with more than 44 projects that are currently under construction.

When completed, these 44 projects will create more than 10,000 new homes, including nearly 7,100 that are purpose-built rental, and nearly 50 percent of which will be rent-controlled and affordable rental homes.  

Toronto says it is ready to continue incentivizing purpose-built rental homes and has requested that the provincial government invest $596 million in the Purpose-built Rental Housing Incentives stream to unlock almost 16,000 new rental homes that are ready to start construction in the next two years.

The city is also asking the federal government to increase investment in key Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation funding and financing programs, which it says are critical in getting projects from approvals to construction start.