Initiative Overview
An overview of the Initiative
Table of Contents
The Pitch
What if your landlord wasn’t looking for profit? What if you and your neighbours were in complete control? What if you couldn’t be renovicted or surprised by a rent increase? What if you could have a permanent reliable home without paying Toronto real estate prices?
We have an opportunity to do something new, that was illegal for 60 years. We’re going to create potentially endless amounts of ideal housing, homes that will raise our quality of life.
We’re building co-ops. New co-ops, in the inner suburbs. We’re also building multiplexes, the incredibly popular (and recently legalized) small buildings with 4-6` homes per building.
Co-ops are housing where the residents (members) are in charge. Rent is decided (democratically) at a rate just enough to cover for expenses, not to pay for someone else’s retirement.
Executive Summary
Toronto is facing overlapping housing crises: a shortage of stable, affordable homes, a suburban sprawl model that’s ecologically unsustainable, and a housing system dominated by speculation and landlord profits.
TMDC is responding with a bold alternative: a repeatable, community-led model that builds, finances, and operates non-profit co-operative multiplex housing in Toronto’s inner suburbs.
The Problem
A Housing System in Crisis
- Toronto’s housing is increasingly unaffordable and unstable, especially for families.
- Traditional co-ops, once supported by government, have seen funding disappear under austerity and privatization.
- The market builds primarily for investors—not for people who need homes.
Suburban Design Is Holding Us Back
- Car-dependent suburbs are expensive to maintain, isolating to live in, and deeply carbon-intensive.
- We need more housing close to jobs, services, and transit—but built in ways that strengthen community, not just increase density.
The Vision
We envision a network of community-controlled co-ops that plan, finance, build, and govern a new generation of housing in Toronto.
Each co-op multiplex is:
- Owned and operated by the people who live there
- Designed for long-term affordability, not short-term profit
- Built to passive house or near-net-zero standards
- Part of a growing, self-sustaining development system
The initiative is built to scale—but it starts small, with real people and real buildings.
The Mission
Our mission is to create the institutional infrastructure needed to continuously deliver stable, climate-smart, non-profit housing—without depending on government subsidies or market developers.
We do this by launching and connecting three core co-ops:
- A Development Co-op that drives land acquisition and early planning
- A Finance Co-op that raises and distributes ethical capital
- Operating Co-ops that house and empower members long-term
Our Approach
We’re not just building housing—we’re building a system to build housing, with roles and responsibilities distributed across different co-op organizations.
Each one is democratically governed, radically transparent, and non-speculative by design.
We build one multiplex at a time—efficiently, affordably, and within zoning limits.
As each co-op comes online, it reinforces the next.
This creates a pipeline of resident-led development and a steady expansion of Toronto’s community-owned housing stock.
While our focus is Toronto, this model can be adapted by others.
Every tool, process, and learning will be documented and shared.