Power of Place: Living Spaces, Thriving Lives

Community Living Toronto’s policy paper, Power of Place: Living Spaces, Thriving Lives, focuses on reforms to Canada’s housing and mortgage systems to help advance inclusive housing and to make it easier to create communities where people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) can thrive with independence, dignity, and belonging.

The Green Paper outlines practical policy solutions to help make inclusive housing more affordable, sustainable, and scalable, including recommendations to modernise mortgage and financing tools at the federal level.

The Impact:

  • No CMHC-insured financing mechanism currently exists for scattered, multiple condominium units owned by a single not-for-profit.
  • Existing frameworks (Multi-Unit Mortgage Loan Insurance (MLI) and the Rental Construction Financing Initiative (RCFI) focus on purpose-built rental or continuous multi-unit properties, which isn’t inclusive for those with IDD.
  • Without reform, not-for-profits face administrative burdens, higher costs, and limited scalability in vertical, mixed-use condo developments.

Proposed Solution:

A Dedicated CMHC Backed Single Mortage/Multi-Unit Programme

  • Single CMHC-insured mortgage covering multiple units under one not-for-profit entity, even if units are non-continuous.
  • Supports “checkerboard” distribution of residents to promote inclusion and prevent clustering.
  • Aligns with Build Canada Homes’ mandate for large-scale, mission-driven housing projects.

Read the Report:

Cover page from Community Living Toronto called “The Power of Place: Living Spaces, Thriving Lives.” It is about improving mortgage policy in Canada to create more housing options for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The page shows the organization’s logo at the top and a large title. At the bottom, there is a simple illustration of a city with buildings, cranes, the CN Tower, and people walking. A colourful pattern runs down the right side. Contact information and a website are shown at the bottom.
Download Power of Place: Living Spaces, Thriving Lives
Download the Executive Summary
Download the News Release