Last Updated - June 21, 2024
At it’s June meeting of Trustees, the TDSB approved a tri-party land exchange agreement including the City of Toronto and Gabriel Dumont Non-Profit (GDNP) Homes.
Located in southeast Scarborough, GDNP is an 87-unit apartment and townhouse complex offering subsidized housing to families of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit peoples on a rent-geared-to-income basis. In 2022, the TDSB authorized donating or selling a strip of land adjacent to Maplewood High School to facilitate the construction of an additional 67 units.
To satisfy the Ministry of Education’s fair market disposal requirements, multiple divisions of the City, including the Housing Secretariat, Corporate Real Estate, and PF&R, came together to work with TLC to find a creative solution that would benefit all parties. The City has agreed in principle to provide the TDSB access to an acre of future parkland at 705 Progress Avenue for forty-nine (49) years, supporting a future urban format (podium) school in exchange for the TLC providing the Maplewood property at no cost to GDNP.
This is an example of the exceptional outcomes possible when public organizations work together creatively. This transaction not only advances mutual commitment to the ongoing process of reconciliation with our indigenous communities, but also expands the stock of affordable housing in Toronto and creates the necessary conditions to build a future school for a growing neighbourhood.