Tory says he’ll use strong mayor powers to create new city division for housing development

Mayor John Tory says he will be using his new strong mayor powers granted by Queen’s Park to create a new development and growth division to move housing forward.

Tory made the announcement at city hall Wednesday morning, saying we’re in a “housing crisis” that is being felt acutely in Toronto.

“Senior staff in the city are working quickly to create this division, which will be a substantial reorganization of existing staff so that they're focused even more keenly on the process of approval and of the on the delivery of housing much faster,” Tory said.

The announcement comes two days after Tory pledged in his election night victory speech to move housing forward in his newly-won third term.

“I've indicated to the city staff that I want this division up and running as quickly as possible, and that I will be using the strong mayor powers to implement it,” the mayor said Wednesday. “And I expect this new model will be up and running as a result of all of that by early 2023.”

This will be the first time that Tory uses the new strong mayor powers granted to the mayors of Toronto and Ottawa by the Ontario government specifically with a mind to moving housing development ahead.

Those powers give the mayor a veto to override council on matters of provincial priority, the ability to hire and fire department heads, appoint a city manager and to create new departments.

“This plan, which represents a fundamental rethink of our bureaucracy, will be a major contributor to ensuring that development applications move as efficiently as possible through our system without sacrificing necessary diligence,” Tory said.

The province also announced sweeping changes on Tuesday that will override municipal zoning laws in some situations to allow for more construction as they aim to build 1.5 million homes over the next decade.

More to come…