PRESIDENT’S Message
We’ve been lobbying governments for incentives (financial and non-financial) for purpose-built rental (PBR) for many years. Some have been activated, others are under consideration. Without assistance there won’t be sufficient new supply … and housing shortage is the agreed cause of our national housing crisis.
While we continue to work on these goals, there is a softening in asking rents in the local marketplace. We say to government that this is a good result; that an abundance of supply creates competition and lowers prices. That making it more financially viable to build rental will have their desired outcome of lower rents. The longer view of our current setback is extremely positive, especially when it takes 6-8 years (at best) from concept to keys. Our population will grow, and condo pre-sales are down by 90%. PBR is what we need.
An unprecedented number of condo units have opened in the GTA over the past year. According to Urbanation, more than 29,000 condo units were registered in 2024. This is a 60% increase from 2023 when 18,000 condo units opened, and is 53% above the 10-year average (19,000).
In 2024, a record high 41% of the newly opened condo units were listed for rent. A double whammy of record high percentage and large volume. Simple math: nearly 19,000 newly (2023 & 2024) registered condo units are investments and now in the rental space.
At the same time, during the past 2 years (2023 & 2024) more than 11,300 new PBRs were completed across the GTHA. These were mostly market rentals and in direct competition with much of the new condo stock.
Moving into 2025, nearly 9,000 PBR units are scheduled to open. These will hit the market at the same time as nearly 31,000 new condos units – of which 40% will join the rental pool.
It will be a renters’ market, especially at the higher end. This abundance of supply will effect all price points. But don’t agonize the slower year-over-year increase, as everyone became accustomed to good growth over the past decade. Similarly, we all thought low interest rates were here to stay.
Please keep building. If you haven’t done it since the 1960-70s, consider it. Our legacy apartments are 50 years old, and we need to make the average age of our rental stock younger. Some large companies are actively shedding old properties and using the proceeds to fund new development. Maintain your existing buildings with the forward mindset of energy efficiency, weather resiliency, and modernization. These older buildings have great bones and with a longterm plan and goal, they will last another 50 years easily. Probably 100 years. The original builders did a commendable job!
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Employment Data
City of Toronto 2024
The City of Toronto collects employment information each year to monitor long-range economic trends and emerging activity. The data is used in the creation of long-range employment projections, planning and infrastructure, municipal services, and monitoring of investment and fiscal goals. Now in its forty-second year, the annual survey is providing insight into how employment has rebounded and shifted since the pandemic.
Developing a rental project is a lengthy process. Site entitlement takes three years, and construction of a large tower takes another three years. A review of ongoing employment trends and near term projections are useful to estimate housing requirements when combined with population growth and demographic changes.
The following summarizes the most recent dataset and includes excerpts from the original report. All the charts, tables and graphics are sourced from the City of Toronto report, but most have been reformatted to better suit this article.
2024 Highlights
Toronto’s survey stated:
“In 2024, the Canadian economy continued the slow growth that was observed last year, supported by consumer activity, business investment and government spending. However, population increases outpaced growth in GDP per capita. Similarly, Ontario has proven to be resilient despite challenges such as high interest rates, inflation, and geopolitical uncertainties with small growth in GDP and employment. Ontario has also experienced population growth outpacing employment growth in recent years, with the unemployment rate trending higher in 2024.”
The report cites multiple sources with forecasts that:
• Real GDP will grow with increasing strength in the next two years, with 1.6% in 2025 and 2.0% in 2026.
• Employment is expected to remain fairly stable with forecasted growth of 1.4% in 2025 and 0.5% in 2026.
• Unemployment rates are projected to remain around 7% over the next two years.
• Following some decline in inflation rates, the Bank of Canada has made a series of incremental cuts to lending rates since June, to encourage economic growth with an eye on managing inflation.
• Inflation and high interest rates will continue to impact consumer spending and business input costs as they continue to moderate.
In 2024, Toronto recorded 1,600,300 jobs citywide, a new alltime high; surpassing the previous record of 1,569,800 jobs in 2019, which subsequently faced a decrease due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2024, employment increased by 4.2%, higher than the 3.4% growth observed last year. The yearover-year growth is also higher than the average annual growth of 1.0% over the past five years and is the highest growth rate measured in the last two decades.
In 2024, 1,218,680 (76.2%) of jobs were full-time (30 hours a week or more) and 381,620 (23.8%) were part-time. Part-time employment increased by 7.2% compared to an increase of 3.3% in full-time employment. Prior to 2020, higher growth had been observed in part-time work, but these jobs took a much harder hit in 2020 and have been slower to return. The significant growth observed this year suggests a return to the pre-pandemic growth in part-time jobs.
In 2024, Toronto counted 73,180 business establishments in the city, an increase of 650 or 0.9% from last year. While the number of establishments has increased each year since 2022, the major losses observed in 2020 and 2021 due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have not been recovered, with the number of businesses still much below the 2019 high of 76,560. Approximately half of the number of businesses that closed in 2020 and 2021 have been regained. Employment concentration has increased as a result of industrial restructuring in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Business Establishment Count in the City of Toronto (1983-2024)
The average number of employees per establishment grew to a new high of 21.9 in 2024. This increase follows a continuing general trend of business complement sizes increasing over the last two decades.
Employees per Establishment (2004-2024)
Business longevity provides insights into the economic health, and in 2024, 31.5% of Toronto’s businesses reported that they had been in operation for less than five years, a slight increase from 2023. Coupled with the growth in total establishments, this suggests that new businesses are finding economic conditions favourable in recent years following the COVID-19 pandemic, although the 2019 share of newer businesses was much higher at 35.7%. Similarly, the share of establishments across the other longevity intervals is fairly constant, suggesting a strong degree of stability in the local economy despite economic cycles.
Longevity of City Establishments, 2019 & 2024
Toronto saw an overall increase of 0.9% in the number of businesses in 2024, with 6,430 (8.8%) opening. This is less than the number of new businesses recorded in 2022 and 2023, which were 6,470 and 7,580 respectively. The new establishments contribute 38,600 jobs in 2024, accounting for 2.4% of the city’s total employment. Considering where these new establishments are opening, they are dispersed throughout the city. In 2024, 57.7% of new establishments opened in the Centres, Downtown or Employment Areas, with the other new businesses locating throughout the rest of the city.
Share of New Establishments by Location, 2024
Establishments by Urban Economic Structure Area, 2023-2024
Establishment Change, 2023-2024 and 2019-2024
The top employment category by total share of jobs continues to be Office with 49.3% of jobs. The share of Institutional employment continues to expand and has been Toronto’s fastest growing category in the last decade with a 30.6% increase in jobs. All categories experienced growth since 2023 except for Manufacturing and Warehousing which declined by 0.9%. Community and Entertainment, representing 3.3% of employment in 2024, experienced the highest year-over-year growth with a 17.2% increase.
The distribution of establishments across the six employment categories is almost identical to previous years. Office (36.8%), Service (25.8%), and Retail (19.5%) comprise the largest shares. Institutional has the highest average number of employees per establishment at 49.1, compared to Retail and Service with 10.3 and 9.4 respectively, which have the fewest. Considering new establishments, the Office category had the most of all categories with 2,410 opening, or 37.5% of all new establishments. The Service category also saw a large increase with 1,920 businesses opening and accounts for 29.9% of all new businesses in 2024
Total Employment by Category, 2024
Establishments by Category, 2024
Employment by Category
New Establishments by Category, 2023-2024
Toronto’s Downtown is the central hub of activity within the city as it serves as an economic and cultural hub. Downtown continues to grow and prosper as the area grew faster than the citywide average of 4.2% and surpassed last year’s record high levels of employment. With an increase of 7.0%, Downtown now has a total of 643,350 jobs representing 40.2% of the city’s total employment in 2024. Job intensification continues in Downtown as the average employment density increased to 29,970 jobs per square kilometre or 300 jobs per hectare in 2024.
Total Employment in the Centres and Downtown
Toronto is divided into four administrative districts: North York, Toronto and East York, Scarborough, and Etobicoke York.
North York district makes up 19.5% of the city’s total employment with the majority of these jobs in the Retail category (26.3%). This is the highest share of retail employment observed among the districts. Of North York’s 311,900 jobs, 11.4% are located in North York Centre, which lies within the boundaries of this district. North York Centre remains as Toronto’s largest Centre with 35,600 jobs, an increase of 2.4% from 2023.
Just over half (52.3%) of the jobs citywide are located in Toronto and East York. This district is separated into Toronto and East York (TEY) North and South with TEY South having 17,210 more jobs than TEY North. The majority (37.6%) of Institutional jobs in the city are found in TEY North while the highest share of Service (28.1%), Office (35.6%), and Community and Entertainment (42.4%) jobs are found in TEY South.
Yonge-Eglinton Centre spans TEY North and North York districts. This Centre is Toronto’s second largest Centre with 16,610 jobs. It contains the highest density of employment of any Centre with approximately 26,230 jobs per square kilometre or 260 jobs per hectare. In 2023, Yonge-Eglinton Centre lost 530 jobs but was able to bounce back this year, gaining 1,130 jobs, the largest employment growth of any Centre in 2024. This is likely due to the ongoing development, including the replacement of office and non-residential uses in the area and the construction of the Eglinton Crosstown LRT, which may continue to influence future employment trends once the LRT goes into service. The majority of employment in Yonge-Eglinton Centre (81.1%) is in the Office category which includes the 1,180 jobs that were added to this category in 2024.
Scarborough has the fewest jobs among the districts, making up 12.2% of employment citywide. Within this district is Scarborough Centre which includes 13,670 jobs, 0.9% of the city’s total. Despite being the only Centre to experience an employment decrease in 2024, Scarborough Centre lost only a combined 50 jobs or 0.4%. This is a significantly smaller decline than the total five-year total decrease of 18.8%, the largest five-year decline observed among the Centres. The majority of employment is in Office (58.7%) followed by Retail (22.2%) which is the highest share of retail employment observed among the Centres.
Etobicoke York accounts for 256,380 jobs, 16.0% of all jobs in the city. This district is home to almost half (44.5%) of all Manufacturing and Warehousing jobs across the city. Within Etobicoke York lies the smallest Centre in Toronto by employment, Etobicoke Centre, with 6,360 jobs per square kilometre or 60 jobs per hectare. Etobicoke Centre has 10,420 jobs, representing 0.7% of employment in Toronto. In 2024, Etobicoke Centre gained 640 jobs or 6.5% which is the second largest growth among the Centres. Like the other Centres, most of Etobicoke Centre’s employment is in Office (72.6%).
Toronto is forecasted to grow to 1,979,000 jobs by 2051, which is a 0.6% increase in employment per annum.
Please contact us if you want a copy of the report: info@gtaaonline.com
The Evolution of Hybrid Work
The Toronto Employment Survey has been tracking work-from-home employment since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2023, the Survey program shifted towards tracking remote work employment to reflect the changing nature of work, and in particular, hybrid working, due to the pandemic. The citywide collection of information on remote work was targeted to collect the number of active total employees working remotely and the number of days those employees work on-site during an average week. Data was collected and recorded as percentages to allow for a balance between collecting precise employment data for each establishment versus the changing configuration of employment undertaken by many businesses.
Hybrid work has become a persistent feature of work in Toronto. While working exclusively remotely has declined since 2022, hybrid arrangements have remained consistent since 2023. While the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions have been lifted, aspects of remote work that were accelerated by the pandemic have remained, signaling a new normal of hybrid work arrangements.
In 2024, 80% of businesses across the city answered the Toronto Employment Survey’s additional questions providing insights on remote work trends. Of those businesses, 85% reported having no active employees working remotely while 15% did. Despite a higher response rate, the share of businesses reporting either having remote-working employees or not remained constant. About 12% of businesses in the city confirmed having staff who are working remotely at least some of the time, which is marginally higher than 2023 at 10%.
The percentage of reported staff working remotely remained constant at 32.5%. This reflects the general
Canadian trend whereby at the end of 2023, 26% of paid Canadian employees spend part of their week working remotely. Toronto’s higher number of remote workers than the national average may be due to a number of factors, including the high percentage of jobs in the Office sector which generally allow for more remote work than other sectors.
One in four businesses that adopted a hybrid work model reported having employees work on-site three days a week on average, showing no change between 2023 and 2024. The survey’s responses regarding the number of days employees work on-site point towards a stable post-COVID-19 pandemic way of working. The number of days Torontonians work onsite is slightly below other major global Cities such as Paris, Singapore, and New York, who on average have more of their workers on-site more days per week.
The majority of remote work that was reported in businesses were in the Office category at 74.8%, consistent with the past three years. The top Canadawide Industries working a hybrid model including Finance and Insurance, Professional, Science and Technology, Information and Cultural, and Public Administration.
Some Canadian employees were far more likely than others to work exclusively from home in 2022, including highly educated workers, highly paid workers, employees in the Information and Cultural industries sector, the Finance and Insurance sector, the Professional, Scientific and Technical Services sector, and the Public Administration sector; and workers in large firms. Although there are fewer people working exclusively from home in 2024, workers with hybrid arrangements are still likely to be from these sectors.
Remote Work Employment and Establishments, 2024
Downtown Toronto’s Recovery
In 2024, Downtown businesses reported 126,890 employees working remotely, an increase of 47,610 remote employees from 2023 which reported 79,270 remote employees.
Geographically, remote work remains highest in Downtown which has high proportions of office-based employment. Downtown has seen an increase of 45,000 remote employees along with an increase of 600 remote work businesses. The total employment number Downtown grew by 56,540. The proportion of remote employees in Downtown in 2023 was 55.5%, in 2024 it was 63.6%.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, Toronto’s downtown recovery rate is 70% compared to its pre-pandemic activity levels in 2019, which is below the North American average of 76% for large cities when compared to 2019 levels. One major factor that influences a Downtown’s recovery rate is the composition of its economy; Downtowns with employment sectors that have larger numbers of remote workers have recovered slower which is likely due to higher numbers of people working remotely.
Remote work has resulted in uneven weekly demand for services, restaurants, and transit. The average weekly office occupancy as of October 2024 is 72% compared to 2019 levels; however, Wednesday is the busiest day Downtown at 83% compared to the lowest occupancy day on Fridays at 41%.
Excessive Indoor Temperatures
The City of Toronto has reviewed and investigated establishing a maximum allowable indoor temperature (26 Celsius) for many years. Here’s a list of some of the reports:
• Access to Cooling to Protect Health During Hot Weather, by Toronto Public Health, 2011 Mar
• Protecting Vulnerable People from Health Impacts of Extreme Heat, Toronto Public Health, 2011 Jul
• Reducing Health Risk from Extreme Heat in Apartment Buildings, Toronto Public Health, 2015 Jun
• Reducing Vulnerability to Extreme Heat, by Toronto Public Health, 2017 May
• Thermal Comfort & Cooling in Apartment Towers, by Tower Renewal Partnership, 2017
• Increasing Access to Cooling in the Community, by Toronto Public Health, 2018 Feb
GTAA has consistently stated that apartment residents can obtain and operate safe portable indoor air conditioning units, if they wish. While GTAA members typically don’t permit window shakers due to a falling hazard, we encourage residents to purchase and enjoy portable indoor AC units.
If some residents are in need cooling but cannot afford it, the City should consider providing AC units to qualified residents based on income, medical conditions and need. British Columbia provided 4,000 AC units in 2023 and 8,000 AC units in 2024 based primarily on income. In June 2024, the City of Hamilton began their “Subsidy for Air-Conditioners to Low Income Households” program where they provide $350 to qualified applicants to purchase AC units.
For years, GTAA has encouraged our members to install an AC unit in a common room or area to provide cooling on hot days. Many buildings now have a cooled lobby area, laundry facility, or party room. Residents are advised that they can access these cooled areas to escape the heat.
The City’s supplementary report discussed in December 2024 noted:
“Staff reported in 2018 that requiring all buildings to install central air conditioning or provide window air conditioners in all units would not be recommended due to technical and financial barriers. Some buildings lack ductwork, insulation, and windows that open, making any cooling solution challenging without significant retrofits. Toronto’s constrained electrical distribution infrastructure may have difficulty accommodating increased electrical demand for a solution focused on air conditioning. Further, under existing provincial legislation, the costs of significant building retrofits could be passed on to tenants through an above-guideline increase, which could negatively impact low-income tenants. Landlords can apply to increase rent beyond the annual guideline (which is 2.5% for 2024) to cover the costs of an eligible capital expenditure. For large buildings undergoing significant retrofits, up-front costs would likely be millions of dollars.”
Toronto has adopted a “Heat Relief Network” strategy, which maximizes the use of existing air-conditioned and other cool spaces on hot days. Toronto Public Health is responsible for organizing the Heat Relief Network and raises awareness regarding the availability of these spaces. The nearest cooling centre address is provided on the notice board in each apartment building. Pre-pandemic, GTAA & Toronto Public Health provided 150,000 door hangers with information on how to stay cool. This has since been replaced with digital infographics that are readily available.
“apartment buildings may be equipped with designated air-conditioned common rooms located within the building that are accessible to tenants during heat events (i.e. cooling rooms). The City does not require property owners to have a cooling room nor does the City prescribe the criteria that defines a cooling room.
Toronto’s most recent report stated 15.1% (542 buildings) of the city’s apartment buildings have a cooling room or space available on the property.
The consensus of recurring theme through all the reports is that creating a mandatory 26C indoor temperature maximum is not practical. Every report noted above does not recommend it.
However, Toronto Council in December 2024, adopted a series of recommendations including:
4. City Council direct the Executive Director, Municipal Licensing and Standards, in consultation with the Medical Officer of Health, the Executive Director, Environment and Climate and relevant City divisions and external stakeholder groups, to report back by quarter four of 2025 with implementation considerations and recommended next steps to implement a health-based maximum indoor temperature standard of 26 degrees celcius for leased residential premises and cooling rooms.
6. City Council request the Province of Ontario to amend the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, to introduce a maximum temperature standard of 26 degrees celcius for all leased residential premises and include cooling as a vital service to ensure thermal safety protections are available to tenants.
7. City Council request the Province of Ontario to proclaim Bill 97, Helping Homebuyers, Protecting Tenants Act, 2023, into force to strengthen tenants’ rights to access cooling in leased residential premises and examine additional measures to support vulnerable and low-income tenants with associated cooling costs.
GTAA will continue to discuss and work with Toronto officials to find a sensible solution. The final report will be prepared in Q3 or Q4 of 2025. Please contact us if you have any recommendations or wish to participate in this matter: info@gtaaonline.com
Heating (and cooling) provision dates CHANGED
Toronto has amended Chapter 497, Heating and Chapter 629, Property Standards to adjust the dates when heating and cooling equipment must be turned on/off. This matter has been studied many times over the past decade (or longer), most notably when a few consecutive days are unusually hot/cold during the shoulder seasons (May/June, and September/ October).
In the most recent study, Toronto stated that “due to the effects of climate change, the months shouldering the winter and summer seasons (i.e. September 15 to October 15 and May 1 to June 1) have become hotter.” That “this has resulted in a need to re-assess the date ranges for existing temperature regulations, which have not been updated recently, to protect tenant’s thermal comfort.”
The date ranges in the Heating and Property Standards Bylaws were established when Toronto’s climate demonstrated lower annual average temperatures and stability within its seasonal patterns. The ten warmest years recorded in downtown Toronto have all occurred since 1998. Of those ten warmest years, three of them have occurred (2020, 2021 and 2023) since staff last reported on indoor temperature regulations in 2018.
After reviewing and analysing local Heating Degree Days (HDD) and Cooling Degree Days (CDD) data,
the City has now approved the following changes, effective April 2025:
• Ensure that a minimum temperature of 21°C is maintained in all areas of the dwelling unit from “October 1 in each year to May 15 in the following year” (instead of September 15 to June 1).
For the 200 or so apartment buildings with centrally controlled cooling:
• Require all air-conditioning systems be operated from “June 1 to September 30” for dwelling units equipped with air conditioning provided by the property owner (instead of June 2 to September 14).
GTAA supported these changes, with one proviso: that the City retain these dates/ranges for a long time, as frequent changes will result in confusion.
The City will send notices to make sure you are aware of these date range changes.
Note that this only applies to apartment buildings located in the City of Toronto. Other municipalities have not made similar changes, and the balance of the Province has a slightly different range of dates. In some jurisdictions the minimum heat temperature is lower at night, when most people are asleep underneath blankets.
Annual General Meeting October 30, 2024
GTAA’s 2024 Annual General Meeting was extremely well attended as Members arrived early to hear our Chair’s annual summary and the Treasurer’s report. Our digital Annual Report was electronically distributed and our audited financial statements were mailed to each member, well in advance. The meeting commenced on time, ran smoothly and was very informative.
Seven nominations were received by the advertised closing at 3 PM on September 9, 2024 for Director positions on our Board.
CONGRATULATIONS to the following GTAA Members who have joined our Board of Directors for a three-year term (November 2024 – October 2027):
• Paula Agnelli – BGO
• Jessica Green – Greenwin Corporation
• Mark Hales – Realstar Management
• Christopher Janisse – Park Property Management
• Hero Mohtadi – Dream Unlimited
• Neil Sigler – Gold Seal Management
• Lorne Stephenson – Q Residential
At the first Board of Directors meeting of the new term held on November 7, 2024, the Executive Committee members, Standing Committee Chairs, and Charitable Foundation Board were selected.
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Board of Directors
November 2024 – October 2025
Front Row (left to right): Paula Agnelli (BGO), Hero Mohtadi (Dream Unlimited), Kris Boyce (Signet Group), Jessica Green (Greenwin Corporation), Annette M. Mincer (Direct Properties), Yehudi Hendler (Y.L. Hendler Ltd.), George Espinola (Medallion Properties),
Back Row (left to right): Bert C. Grant (Lawrence Construction Co.), Cora Armstrong (Schickedanz Brothers), Justin Taylor (Signet Group), Lorne Stephenson (Q Residential), Perry Fryers (WJ Properties), Mark Hales (Realstar Management),
Absent from photo: Laura Holland (BGO), Christopher Janisse (Park Property Management), Jordan Rose (Glen Corporation), Gloria Salomon (DBS Developments), Neil Sigler (Gold Seal Management), Paul Smith (DMS Property Management), Martin Tovey (Minto Apartments),
Executive Committee (left to right):
Kris Boyce – 1st Vice Chair
Justin Taylor – Chair
Perry Fryers, Yehudi Hendler – Treasurer
Cora Armstrong – 2nd Vice Chair
Absent from photo:
Laura Holland – Past Chair, Gloria Salomon, Paul Smith – Secretary, Martin Tovey.
Charitable Foundation Board of Directors
Bert C Grant (Lawrence Construction Company) – Chair
Peter Altobelli (Yardi Systems)
Daryl Chong (GTAA)
Perry Fryers (WJ Properties)
Yehudi Hendler (Y.L. Hendler Ltd.)
Todd Spencer (Park Property Management)
Justin Taylor (Signet Group)
In-house
Annual Dinner Celebration
Another huge gathering with more than 500 members and their guests joined us in our annual industry celebration. First we took care of business and held our Annual General Meeting for a surprisingly large group – thanks for attending. It didn’t take long, and we quickly transitioned into our expanded reception area for the best two hours of the year of completely relaxed, in-person catching up.
We gather each year to acknowledge the effort and hard work of responsibly housing hundreds of thousands of residents. Keeping everyone safe, sound and comfortable in their homes.
We welcomed the new and young people who recently joined our industry, and encouraged them to find mentors, as their journey with us – if they hadn’t already realized -- will be very long, perhaps their whole careers.
We celebrated our industry by popping bottles of prosecco and toasting each other for another tremendous year.
Chair Justin Taylor recalled that our past membership year started out with a dramatic change at City Hall. In July 2023, Olivia Chow was sworn into office as Toronto’s 66th Mayor. That the combination of her political beliefs, the newly bestowed Strong Mayor power, and appointments of like-minded Councillors as Committee Chairs and revamped the composition of Toronto’s Executive Committee. A 9.5% property tax hike for homes, and unneeded increase to By-law Enforcement Officers were in her first budget.
Justin echoed our industry’s sentiment that it was baffling to increase enforcement when the average Rentsafe score is consistently 88%. Purely a political move to appease a growing number of tenant
activists, who notable often live in Toronto Community Housing properties.
Renoviction is a made-up term. It is not defined in any legislation, yet it has made its way into a new policy. During the City consultations the City admitted that there were maybe a couple hundred N13s each year. When the rental universe in Toronto is now 500,000 homes, a few hundred, even 500, would be 0.1%. The City also agreed that this is not a problem in the purpose-built rental market.
This was another relatively ineffective exercise, purely for headlines … akin to the vacant home tax debacle. The most offensive part of the renoviction issue is that the matter is provincial jurisdiction. Completely covered in the RTA, and with recently increased fines for bad faith evictions … which we don’t do and certainly do not defend.
Justin offered that the solution is directly tied to building new rental.
He noted that while our May golf event was rained out, we were able to raise $70,000 for our Charitable Foundation. This combined with the large donations from our major sponsors and many individual and smaller contributions, has allowed us to continue funding many organizations that assist with housing.
Justin closed his comments by thanking all of GTAA’s Members for their continued commitment to our association. We currently have more than 153,000 paid units in our membership, 200 suppliers, and 25 Millennium Members. We are large and strong and we look forward to continuing our work together to protect and improve our industry.
Annual General Meeting
Charitable Foundation Donates $150,000 at Annual Dinner
Our Charitable Foundation celebrated our 20th year by presenting $140,000 to seven worthy organizations who each work tirelessly to help those in our community who need some assistance.
Most of the financial assistance provide by GTAA Charitable Foundation is from the direct annual contribution of our Major Sponsors. Their ongoing generously ensures we can give back to our community. With great appreciation to our Major Sponsors:
Platinum Sponsors: Park Property Management, Yardi Systems, WJ Properties, Lawrence Construction Company and Greenrock Real Estate Advisors
Gold Sponsor: Homestead Land Holdings
Silver Sponsor: DBS Communities and Home Depot Canada
Margaret Herd, Chair of the GTAA Charitable Foundation presented $20,000 cheques to the seven partnering agencies at our annual dinner. These dedicated community-based organizations are making a tremendous difference in the lives of the homeless and hard to house. We are proud to support and assist them in assisting others.
(From left): Gloria Salomon, Bert Grant, Perry Fryers, Peter Altobelli, Daryl Chong, Margaret Herd, Vera Tahiraj, Michael Lirangi, Justin Taylor
Each of the following grant recipients received $20,000 from GTAA’s Charitable Foundation:
Our annual Scholarship Awards were presented before the academic year started for four very qualified and deserving residents in our buildings. Erjona, Rajeswari, Reayah, and Tristan were delighted, as were their families, to each receive $5,000. GTAA’s scholarship award is $4,000 and each of building owners provided an additional $1,000 to help their winning resident. Well done!
The Foundation Board sincerely thanks everyone for your support and attendance at our Golf Tournament and Chair’s Luncheon. Our events and direct donations enable us to make these contributions.
The Charitable Foundation continues to sponsor 150 children living in Toronto’s family shelter system. With your generosity, we donated $10,000 and were delighted to learn that the children had a grand time at Treetop trekking this year and had enough left to fund an upcoming movie excursion.
You can donate personally and corporately to the Charitable Foundation so that our industry may continue and even expand on our annual efforts to make a positive difference. Please contact GTAA (info@gtaaonline.com) to request the donation form.
Martin Tovey Sam Grossman Award of Excellence
The Greater Toronto Apartment Association’s Founding Chair Sam Grossman was a leader in the property management industry. Sam played a major role in the development of the GTAA and encouraged all in the industry to participate in the association’s endeavours.
GTAA’s Executive Committee established the Sam Grossman Award of Excellence to recognize an individual in the property management industry that has made a significant contribution to their company, our industry and society.
This year’s recipient – Martin Tovey!
Martin started in 1982 as a maintenance man, and quickly ascended the corporate ladder. In 1995 he joined Minto as Director of Operations, where his current role is the Senior Vice President of Investments.
Through this time, Martin has made a positive impact on those around him. He has contributed immensely to the personal and career development of many in our industry through his knowledge, guidance and friendship.
Martin has been on GTAA’s Board for a long time, and a main ‘go to’ for industry matters. He is always available to meet with government officials and provide the facts from his depth of knowledge, experience and expertise. His calm and sensible demeanour is invaluable in our industry discussions and consultations with policy makers. His practical response is profound. There are many that believe Martin coined the term “it is what it is” … and if he didn’t start it, he at least made it popular.
Not one for the spotlight, Martin has greatly contributed behind the scenes for our industry and we collectively wish to thank him for all he’s done and for all that he will continue to do.
THANK-YOU to the GTAA members that generously donated to this year’s raffle.
Raffle Donors
Platinum Sponsors
Gold Sponsors
AFPS - Accurate Fire Protection & Security Coinamatic Minto Properties
Eagle Restoration
Home Depot
Debra Fine & Steve Weinreib Rent Check Credit Bureau
Enerstream Agency Services Rogers Communications
Yardi FirstOnSite Restoration Wyse Meter Solutions
The contributions of our sponsors provided fantastic curated prize packages that included:
• Grand Prize: $6,500 Air Canada
• Great experiences including premium Maple Leaf and Raptors tickets with dinner
• Come From Away at the Royal Alexandra, and fine dining at Nobu
• Shop ‘til you Drop at Holts
• And more
Every attendee received a raffle draw ticket on their way in. Many guests purchased extra tickets to increase their chances of winning our extraordinary prizes AND to further support the children living in the City’s hostels and shelters. As always, we donated $10,000 to Toronto’s Family Residences to fund a fun and memorable day for the children.
Thank you for supporting the kids!
Everyone celebrates Ian Ford’s Grand Prize win: $6,500 Air Canada!
