This report evaluates the effectiveness of using inclusionary zoning as a policy tool to aid in delivering affordable housing in the City of Toronto.  Inclusionary zoning has been used extensively in the United States to help create mixed-income communities with a promise to improve housing affordability.  The author reviews the use of inclusionary zoning in the US from the 1970s to the present, and examines more recent examples from Canada's three largest cities (Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver) to determine if inclusionary zoning delivers on the promise of more affordable housing.  Mah concludes that inclusionary zoning is a promising policy but only if it is properly designed in consultation with all relevant stakeholders and if it is part of a more comprehensive housing strategy.  She also advises that the policy should target specific (shallow subsidy) income groups and that affordability should be rigorously controlled through price and occupancy restrictions.

Release Date: 22 Dec 2009
Number of pages: 72
Document number: 51952

Themes:

Cities and Communities
Social Protection

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