Toronto community housing buildings score worst in city’s own evaluations, Star analysis shows

Between 2017 and 2021, TCHC buildings scored lower on RentSafeTO than privately owned buildings and those maintained by non-profits.

Thestar.com
June 8, 2022
Ben Spurr

Buildings owned by Toronto’s social housing provider have consistently received lower marks than other property types under the city’s own apartment evaluation program, according to a Star analysis.

The program, called RentSafeTO, is intended to gauge property owners’ compliance with basic building maintenance standards, and its evaluations are based on inspections of common amenities like security, stairwells, outdoor grounds, elevators, laundry rooms, garbage rooms and lobbies.

A Star review of records posted to the city’s Open Data portal that detail more than 9,700 evaluations performed between 2017 and 2021 shows Toronto Community Housing Corporation (TCHC) buildings on average scored lower than both privately owned buildings and those maintained by non-profit social housing providers.

The analysis comes as the collapse of a ceiling at the Swansea Mews TCHC complex last month has refocused public attention on the sometimes dire condition of Toronto’s social housing stock. The incident injured one person, and forced the evacuation of 400 others while the agency investigates.

Between 2017 and 2021, about 330 TCHC properties underwent almost 950 RentSafeTO evaluations, and their average score was 69.7 per cent. That was compared to 72.4 per cent for privately owned buildings. Non-TCHC social housing providers earned the highest marks on average, with 75.4 per cent.

TCHC buildings were also more likely than other property types to be subjected to audits, which properties must undergo if they fail an assessment by scoring less than 50 per cent. TCHC properties made up less than 10 per cent of RentSafeTO evaluations, but accounted for nearly 16 per cent of audits.

“We acknowledge and share the frustrations of TCHC tenants that have been impacted by the problems that this data illustrates,” said TCHC spokesperson Robin Smith in a statement about the RentSafeTO numbers.

“While TCHC has had to contend with historic underfunding for building capital repairs, we are strongly committed to bringing all our buildings to a state of good repair to improve living conditions and quality of life for tenants.”

The city launched RentSafeTO in 2017. The program applies to all buildings with three or more storeys and 10 or more units, of which there are about 3,500 in the city. People living in buildings covered by the program account for almost one third of Toronto residents.

Buildings registered under the program must undergo an evaluation at least once every three years, with lower scoring properties inspected more frequently.

Assessments under the program don’t evaluate buildings for the type of structural issues that may have led to the collapse at Swansea Mews. But Dania Majid, a staff lawyer with the Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario, said the common areas evaluated under the program can give an indication of the overall state of a building.

“If the lobby’s not in a good shape, chances are what you’re going to find behind the door in an individual unit might also come with problems,” she said. “So it is a red flag.”

Majid said it’s not surprising TCHC buildings have scored lower under the RentSafeTO program than other building types. She said the agency has struggled with underfunding since the province downloaded responsibility of social housing onto municipalities in the late 1990s without providing long-term financial support for its upkeep. That has meant problems in Toronto community housing buildings often get only patchwork fixes and until the problem gets out of hand.

Why non-TCHC social housing providers scored the highest isn’t clear, but Majid speculated it’s likely because non-profit agencies oversee smaller, more manageable portfolios than TCHC. For instance Wigwamen, a non-profit Aboriginal housing provider whose buildings were among the highest scoring, lists only half a dozen apartment buildings in Toronto. TCHC owns more than 350.

The buildings overseen by non-profits are also more likely to be younger and require less work: the average non-TCHC social housing building is only about 40 years old, compared to about 48 years old for TCHC buildings, and 64 years for private apartments. “So they’re able to stay on top of the repairs,” Majid said.

A property at 44 Willowridge Rd. in north Etobicoke has consistently been among TCHC’s worst performing properties under RentSafeTO. The 14-storey, 236-unit tower barely passed its first assessment in 2017 with 51 per cent, and although it improved its marks somewhat in the ensuing years, it failed its evaluation in 2021 with just 46 per cent, receiving the lowest marks possible for security and the condition of its stairwells and parking area. The evaluation found its entrance doors and windows, exterior cladding, and balcony guardrails were also in bad condition.

Tiffany Nketia, who has lived at the building for about two decades, said that while conditions have improved recently, for years she felt grossed out every time she had to use the tower’s stairwell. She reported seeing garbage in public areas of the building and sometimes roaches.

“It felt nasty,” she said.

Smith, the TCHC spokesperson, acknowledged the agency’s funding problems have made it difficult to keep pace with repairs at Willowridge and other properties. But he said the organization has been making significant progress on its maintenance backlog since 2019, when the city secured a nine-year, $1.34-billion investment through the National Housing Strategy.

Since that year, TCHC buildings’ average RentSafeTO scores have improved, from about 71 to 75 per cent, although they still lag behind average scores for private buildings and non-TCHC social housing, which have also increased.

The agency says it spent almost $1.3 million on capital work at 44 Willowridge in 2021 and is planning more than $2 million more there over the next two years. So far it’s replaced interior railings and guards, repaired the playground, and upgraded the waste chute room. It has also performed an interior demolition to make way for the construction of a new tenant services hub.

Another change is that Willowridge and other TCHC properties used to be managed by contracted third parties, but as of this year the agency has brought oversight of all of its buildings in-house. The agency expects the direct oversight will improve conditions across its portfolio.

There are signs the agency’s efforts are bearing fruit. Willy Lindao, who lives at 44 Willowridge with his fiancée, said he’s noticed a difference since he moved in about two years ago.

“Little by little in the past two years, since I came here, they were trying to put some work on the building,” he said. He said he believes TCHC is doing good work, but progress can feel slow.

“There’s a lot to do at this building,” he said.