Last week, Marwa Eldardiry and I, student interns at SHSC, went to the City of Toronto Archives. We were there to visit SHSC’s co-sponsored exhibition, “A New Lease on Life.” The exhibit is a pictorial history of public and private rental development projects in Toronto, depicting how the social housing sector has changed over the years.

City of Toronto Archives

As a co-op student from the Corporate Communications program at Seneca College, I am new to the social housing sector. With limited background knowledge in affordable housing, I was impressed with the exhibit’s presentation of Toronto’s history of rental housing. Incorporating numerous illustrations and primary documentation, the exhibit gave me a strong sense of the changes in social housing in over the course of the past 100 years.

Walking in, Marwa and I were welcomed with a large poster explaining: “Although Toronto is known as a ‘city of homes,’ it might just as well call itself a ‘city of renters.’” On the floor, in front of the poster, were two vintage suitcases, which set the tone of the exhibit: renters on the move in 20th century Toronto.

Safer and Healthier Communities in Toronto
A prominent theme that permeated the exhibit was the need to create safer and healthier communities in Toronto. Due to the inadequate living conditions that had been the norm in the city’s past, the city undertook the Regent Park North project in 1947, Canada’s first public housing project. The project marked the start of a public program to end the slums in the city, which emerged in the absence of a public housing system. At the time, this project took a new approach, utilizing the “Garden City” model. The new buildings, designed in an “X” shape, were separated by vast amounts of green space. It was interesting to be able to compare Regent Park’s building planning model, which was a dramatic contrast to the surrounding neighbourhoods. The nearby buildings were side-by-side, with little separation between them. The Bluette’s were the first family to move into Regent Park in March 1949. Alfred Bluette, when first moving in, said that it was, “like walking into a dream.”

However, Regent Park, built exclusively to provide affordable housing, faced criticism as time passed. The city and Regent Park tenants found the project to be ineffective, as it created a social divide, turning Regent Park into a community that became isolated from the city. The inner streets did not connect to main roads and afforded limited access for emergency vehicles and visitors. The area, not being conducive to community building, once again declined.

By attending the exhibit, I learned about the history of affordable housing in Toronto, and how social housing developments have changed over the past century. The exhibit’s examination of Regent Park shows how affordable housing projects in Toronto, and the lessons planners have learned from them, can help pave the way for future developments.

Visit the Exhibition
To learn more about the chronicles of Toronto’s public and private rental developments, visit “A New Lease on Life” exhibition at the City of Toronto Archives.

The exhibition is open Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and will run until the end of the year.

Watch for Marwa’s blog next week, as she takes a closer look at Toronto’s early development of affordable rental housing.