OTTAWA – Claiming that the city is decreasing on its promise to increase density, federal Housing Minister Gregor Robertson is threatening to draw some housing funding of Toronto.
On Monday, in a letter to Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow, Robertson wrote that he was recently disappointed with a decision, where the builders could have a lot to six housing units.
Last month, the Toronto City Council signed a compromise with a plan, with some city wards signed up on the Sixplace Framework, while others will have the option to choose later.
Robertson argued that a decision was taken against the Toronto’s agreement with the federal government under the Housing Accelerator Fund – a tool uses Ottawa to encourage cities to create more housing.
Robertson wrote in the letter, “I encourage the city of Toronto to address the city of Toronto to address the housing crisis and to implement the ambitious scope of the agreement.”
Toronto signed a deal with Feds at the end of 2023, which would see the city constructing around 12,000 new units in three years and will receive $ 471 million in federal funding.
The deal asks the city employees to report back to the council “On the occasion of allowing multiculture in the neighborhood through the correct zoning by-sasural in the neighborhood, permission to allow multi-unit housing development … permissions for residential buildings with six housing units.”
In his letter, Robertson warned that Toronto could lose some of his housing money if the city fails to meet the goals of the original agreement.
He said that he wants to find a solution to the deadlock by 20 December.
“As stated last, I will reduce the possibility of low money if the solution is not introduced in the city of Toronto that ensures that the sense of agreement is fulfilled,” Robertson wrote.
In the previous letter to Chow on March 11, the then-housing minister Nate Arskin-Smita warned Toronto that Toronto could lose up to 25 percent of his funding if the city falls back on increasing the housing density.
This report of Canadian Press was first published on 23 July 2025.
Craig Lord, Canadian Press