74 rent-controlled homes break ground at Dundas and Ossington

The City of Toronto and the federal government broke ground on 74 new rent-controlled homes at Dundas Street West and Ossington Avenue on August 24, 2026, with at least 17 units set aside as affordable. The project is funded partly through the federal Build Canada Homes program.

The City of Toronto and the federal government broke ground today on 74 new rent controlled homes at Dundas Street West and Ossington Avenue, in the Trinity Bellwoods area. At least 17 of those units will be designated affordable, and more than 40 percent of the building will be two or three bedroom units, aimed at families rather than single renters.

What is actually being built?

The project sits at 1113 to 1125 Dundas Street West, on land the City already owned, a short walk from streetcar service on both Dundas and Ossington. It will be a mass timber building with geothermal heating, which the City says is faster to build and cheaper to run than a typical concrete tower. CreateTO is leading the project, Moriyama Teshima Architects and Montgomery Sisam Architects designed it, and Pomerleau Construction is building it. Mayor Olivia Chow said the goal is housing that people who work in the city can actually afford to live in. A non profit housing provider has not yet been chosen to run the building once it is finished, and no completion date has been released.

Who is paying for it?

The City is contributing the land itself along with capital funding and incentives. The rest comes from the federal government's Build Canada Homes program, the agency Ottawa set up this year to fund and build housing directly rather than only hand out grants. Neither the City nor the federal government has released a total dollar figure for this specific project.

Is this the same 2.7 billion dollars the City and Ottawa already announced?

It is part of it. On August 5, the City and the federal government signed a framework agreement worth up to 2.7 billion dollars, aimed at building thousands of rental homes across Toronto, with a City target of 65,000 new rent controlled homes by 2030. That agreement was a funding commitment on paper, not a building. Today's groundbreaking is the first concrete example of it turning into an actual address, with a construction crew on site rather than a press release.

What does rent controlled mean here?

The City has not published starting rents for any of the 74 units. What it has published is the number set aside as affordable, at least 17, and a commitment that a non profit operator will run the building once one is chosen. Anyone interested in applying will need to watch the City's housing pages for that step, since the operator will set the actual application process.

Does 74 homes change anything for renters or buyers in the GTA?

Not on its own. Seventy four homes, even with 17 set aside as affordable, will not move rents or prices in a city that needs tens of thousands of new units a year. What it does show is a pace. This is the kind of project worth watching to see whether Toronto's much larger funding announcements actually turn into finished buildings, and how long that takes from a signed agreement to a crew on site.

Source: City of Toronto news release, August 24, 2026