#HousingNowTO
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lanrickbennett.bsky.social
Looking forward to your project unfolding in #TorontoDanforth over the coming months.

h/t @torontomet.bsky.social #HousingNowTO
housingnowto.bsky.social HousingNowTO @housingnowto.bsky.social · 5d
[Toronto, ON] Last week, our #AffordableHousing volunteer's orientation walking-tour along COXWELL AVE with our latest cohort of 4th-year planning students at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU), School of Urban & Regional Planning (SURP) 1/
Students in front of a church Students in front of 355 Coxwell building Students in from of an abandoned strip mall Students in front of a building
September 23, 2026 at 2:58 PM
lanrickbennett.bsky.social
#30DaysOfBiking

#HousingNowTO

h/t @ternbicycles.com
Image of my e-bike in the hallway
April 18, 2025 at 1:38 AM
cbailey6.bsky.social
I'll file it away beside HousingNowTO, Eglinton TOday, and Yonge TOmorrow.
July 11, 2025 at 5:06 PM
housingnowto.bsky.social
STANDING-OFFER to ALL the 'major-party' MP candidates in #Toronto April 28th Federal Elections in #CDNPoli — Our HNTO volunteers are happy to give you a QUICK #AffordableHousing briefing and/or development-site tour in your 416 riding(s), upon request..!

x.com/housingnowto...
March 23, 2025 at 11:30 PM
lanrickbennett.bsky.social
Sent some pics from election night on Monday. The lady in red is my #TorontoDanforth MP @juliedabrusin.bsky.social Appeciate her work fighting to house those w/o a home & advocating for streets that prioritize the safety of vulnerable road users.
h/t @housingnowto.bsky.social @tomflood.bsky.social
Image of three people in a bar One in blue (that says HousingNowTO), one in red and one in black (that says BICYCLES DELIVER THE FREEDOM THAT AUTO ADS PROMISE)
May 3, 2025 at 1:58 AM
moreneighboursto.bsky.social
HousingNowTO gives a dang fine affordable housing tour.

Any Toronto municipal incumbents and challengers would be well served to get in touch and find out about the affordable housing projects that are in the pipeline for their ward. (and how to make them pencil)
housingnowto.bsky.social HousingNowTO @housingnowto.bsky.social · Jun 19
📍Standing-Offer to Toronto Council Candidates running in 2026. Our #AffordableHousing volunteers are happy to answer any questions you have about the City's #HousingNow program - and what is needed create new #WorkforceHousing & Rental Housing at speed & at scale in #TOPoli...
June 20, 2026 at 3:02 AM
lanrickbennett.bsky.social
As Mark Richardson and I celebrated HousingNowTO sixth anniversary with friends and other volunteers last week, I'm blown away by the sheer number of projects that our student teams are bringing forward in the first 23 days of 2025.
Image of Mark and I wearing blue shirts in front of a large window One blue Tshirt says PEOPLE COMMUNITY OPPORTUNITY One blue Tshirt says FUTURE RESIDENTS ASSICIATON Text WORLD SMARTCITY AWARDS 2024 FINALISTS ANNOUNCED #ICYMI HousingNowTO is a pro-bono professional services collective that uses data, planning, and architectural best practices to ensure that the City of Toronto maximizes the opportunities for creating new affordable housing on surplus City-owned lands. We were founded in December 2018 to track progress and advocate for improve-outcomes on the surplus lands identified by City Council. We are tackling affordable housing and spatial opportunities to create more housing across federal, provincial, and municipal jurisdictions. Just some of the work we’re doing at HousingNowTO
January 24, 2025 at 3:09 AM
lanrickbennett.bsky.social
Spent time with @housingnowto.bsky.social and our @uoft.bsky.social School of Cities’ Multidisciplinary Urban Capstone Project (MUCP) students this morning to meet with folks from #CanadaLandsCompany & #NorthcrestDev

#YZD
#HousingNowTO
#XOXODownsview
Map of my bike route to Downsview via #BikeTO Image of Mark and I outside of a multi-coloured building Images of the backs of some HousingNowTO students text “People Community Opportunity” and “Future Resident Association” Visual display of the Downsview site
October 20, 2024 at 7:11 PM
lanrickbennett.bsky.social
A little bias picking @housingnowto.bsky.social Worked with two Toronto Mayors to re-define Affordable Housing definition. Teamed up with @uoftcities.bsky.social & @torontomet.bsky.social planning students to present findings to CreateTO & city staff :)

h/t ‪ @rebeccachesley.bsky.social
Screen grab from YouTube of HousingNowTO's Mark Richardson at Civic Tech Toronto Screen grab from CBC News UofT HousingNowTo Team working on "Unlocking Green-P Lots for Affordable Housing"
April 1, 2026 at 3:07 PM
lanrickbennett.bsky.social
#IdeasAtWork

One affordable home costs about $550k to deliver today.

@housingnowto.bsky.social's Mark Richardson on Metro Morning:

Use public land. Standardize design. Scale modular construction. Align government.

Toronto has land. What we need is #PoliticalWill youtu.be/oScIOr1jevs?...
April 13, 2026 at 12:46 PM
housingnowto.bsky.social
#HousingNowTO

We had a great evening connecting #AffordableHousing experts w/ our Students from @torontomet.bsky.social & @uoftcities.bsky.social on how to FIX the #RentalHousing gap(s) in #TOPoli…
April 18, 2025 at 1:35 AM
housingnowto.bsky.social
[Toronto, ON] "Justin Trudeau's resignation will have implications not only at the Federal level, there will likely be implications for other levels of government as well - including the @cityofto.bsky.social which relies on Federal funding for many key-priorities." #TOPoli

youtu.be/DtH5bkcS71o?...
CBC TORONTO - 2025-01-07 - Trudeau Resignation Toronto Impacts
YouTube video by HousingNowTO
youtu.be
January 8, 2025 at 10:24 PM
lanrickbennett.bsky.social
Dual role early this morning with #HousingNowTO and #BicycleMayorTO

Happy to be speaking with housing and mobility advocate at #HousingwithFraser

RAMPING UP HOUSING DELIVERY IN CANADA: A Conversation with the Hon Sean Fraser, Federal Minister Housing, Infrastructure & Communities
Image of myself in HousingNowTO blue shirt RAMPING UP HOUSING DELIVERY IN CANADA: A Conversation with the Hon Sean Fraser, Federal Minister Housing, Infrastructure & Communities FEBRUARY 12, 2024 Image of Jennifer Keesmaat and Hon Sean Fraser
February 12, 2024 at 3:31 PM
moreneighboursto.bsky.social
Always great to connect with our friends at HousingNowTO, the School of Cities, and Habitat for Humanity GTA! We had an awesome time meeting the minister @gregorrobertson.bsky.social we were happy to gift him a More Neighbours T-shirt, as he's works hard to get more homes built for more neighbours!
housingnowto.bsky.social HousingNowTO @housingnowto.bsky.social · Jun 22
[Toronto, ON] Good day to connect our #YIMBY colleagues from @moreneighboursto.bsky.social & @uoftcities.bsky.social to Federal Housing Minister @gregorrobertson.bsky.social at @canurb.bsky.social “Canada’s Housing Future Summit 2026”…

EVENT - events.canurb.org/event/EVEZRL...
June 22, 2026 at 11:01 PM
lanrickbennett.bsky.social
A nod to @kingofva.bsky.social and folks at @uoftcities.bsky.social for this years MUCP Student Showcase

Putting my bias hat on for the amazing students behind @housingnowto.bsky.social’s ‘Unlocking The Potential of Green-P Parking Lots for Affordable Housing’

#HousingNowTO
March 25, 2026 at 11:22 PM
dtkmelissa.bsky.social
"Richardson said the province could replace the policy by offering affordable housing itself on provincial lands around transit stations." This. This is the way forward.
Text: “We need to deliver affordable housing at speed and at scale, and you’re not going to do it through inclusionary zoning," said Richardson, the founder of HousingNowTO. "You’re only going to do it through direct investment from all three levels of government.”
January 16, 2026 at 9:46 PM
moreneighboursto.bsky.social
An additional 168 long-term care beds & 30 assisted living units for Toronto seniors in Rosedale? Sounds like a good plan. If you have time to show support on December 4 at 7 pm, you can register here: toronto.webex.com/weblink/regi...
A tweet from @HousingNowTO that reads "[Toronto, ON] Non-profit #LongTermCare & #SeniorsHome provider, has proposed an 11-storey infill to an existing facility in #Yorkville, near #Rosedale TTC subway station, but local #NIMBY folks in their multi-million dollar gingerbread houses are upset..."
December 3, 2024 at 9:19 PM
housingnowto.bsky.social
[Scarborough, ON] Volunteers from #HousingNowTO
& @moreneighboursto.bsky.social attended last-night's in-person #CityPlanTO public-meeting at Birchmount Park Community Centre, with local residents - and Councillor
#ParthiKandavel
.
We spoke in Conditional-Support of this 11-Storey proposal...
April 11, 2025 at 10:31 AM
moreneighboursyyc.bsky.social
We are excited to host Mark Richardson of HousingNowTO for a presentation on affordable housing, and what Calgary housing advocates can learn from Toronto.

This will be a great opportunity to learn more about housing and connect with Calgary's pro-housing community.

RSVP here: tinyurl.com/yuskes4b
Description of housing advocacy event to take place August 11 from 6-8pm at the Sunalta Community Hub, 1639 10 ave SW
August 2, 2025 at 9:43 PM
lanrickbennett.bsky.social
We're planning a '@housingnowto.bsky.social Students & Volunteer Celebration' 2025 Edition on April 17th. More details to come. Great place to for you to hear about the work that we do. In the mean time, if you're looking for a primer, this is a great video presentation. youtu.be/7tKEDu-dHSI?...
HousingNowTO at Executive Committee - Oct 31, 2023 - Generational Transformation of Toronto Housing
YouTube video by HousingNowTO
youtu.be
March 24, 2025 at 1:12 PM
lanrickbennett.bsky.social
#IdeasAtWork

“One of MUCP’s long-standing collaborators is @housingnowto.bsky.social , a volunteer-driven advocacy group that explores how underused government-owned land can help meet Toronto’s housing and affordability needs.”

h/t @kingofva.bsky.social
Cc: @uoftcities.bsky.social @utoronto.ca
School of Cities / Learning Multidisciplinary Urban Capstone Project (MUCP/IMUCP) The Multidisciplinary Urban Capstone Project (MUCP) / International Multidisciplinary Urban Capstone Project (IMUCP) is a full-year academic course open to undergraduate students in their final year from all U of T faculties, departments and campuses. Students are placed in multidisciplinary teams and matched with a community partner that has identified an existing urban challenge that they would like the students to consult on. Over the course of the academic year, teams research, propose, and ultimately prototype an intervention to address this challenge. HousingNowTO: Surplus public-owned land HousingNowTO is a pro-bono professional services collective that uses data, planning and architectural best practices to ensure that the City of Toronto maximizes the opportunities for creating new affordable-housing on surplus City-owned lands. They were founded in December 2018 to track-progress and advocate for improve-outcomes on the surplus lands identified by City Council. The HousingNowTO MUCP student group is asked to reimagine a surplus land site in the City of Toronto by designing multiple options for affordable housing, that integrate social equity and climate and social justice. The goal of the MUCP students in this research team is to provide HousingNowTO with insights and actionable analysis to help them influence the future direction of the site with the City of Toronto.
February 12, 2026 at 10:38 PM
housingnowto.bsky.social
2/ Our #HousingNowTO volunteers in Toronto have spent the last few week's assisting new Federal Housing Minister
@beynate.bsky.social & his transition-team at Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada with amazing logistical support from @uoft.bsky.social School of Cities.!
January 14, 2025 at 10:57 AM
lanrickbennett.bsky.social
Early morning start courtesy of the fine folks at #WaterfrontBIA

Double duty @uoftcities.bsky.social & @housingnowto.bsky.social

BEYOND THE USUAL:
Building a Bold,
Connected Waterfront

Moderated by Joe Cressy w/

Hoverlink Ontario Inc.’s Erika Potrz, #WaterfrontBIA’s Tim Kocur & #TTC’s Eric Chu
Lanrick sporting School of Cities hat and HousingNowTO t-shirt TORONTO WELCOME TO BEYOND THE USUAL: Building a Bold, Connected Waterfront Multiple people on a stage speaking about “Beyond The Usual: Building a Bold Connected Waterfront
May 28, 2025 at 1:31 PM
lanrickbennett.bsky.social
Congrats to @housingnowto.bsky.social’s Mark Richardson

h/t @utoronto.ca @uoftcities.bsky.social #HousingNowTO
Mark Richardson Mark is a community partner and expert mentor in the Multidisciplinary Urban Capstone Project (MUCP), delivered through U of T's School of Cities. The course attracts final-year undergraduate students from all disciplines to address real-world urban challenges. Since 2021, Mark has mentored six student teams in the MUCP program, skillfully guiding them toward solutions and providing valuable career advice. Mark has also mentored graduate students in Geography and Planning. Though not an alumnus, Mark's is profoundly committed to the project and to city-building and youth mentorship more broadly.
November 19, 2025 at 7:56 PM
lanrickbennett.bsky.social
This is #TorontoDanforth

Today at City of Toronto's Planning & Housing Committee, our volunteers will be asking questions about the apparent LOSS of Six (6)
#AffordableHousing units from the #OpenDoors program site at 685 Queen Street East (Queen &
Broadview）.？
#TOPoli

2/

x.com/housingnowto...
HousingNowTO 0 @HousingNowTO X.com Today at City of Toronto's Planning & Housing Committee, our volunteers will be asking questions about the apparent LOSS of Six (6) #AffordableHousing units from the #OpenDoors program site at 685 Queen Street East (Queen & Broadview）.？ #TOPoli PDF - toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2...
July 30, 2026 at 8:27 PM