A new $1.3-billion fund will convert unwanted Ontario condos into rentals
The province says roughly 2,200 new units will soon be available
Queen’s Park has launched a $1.3-billion fund to buy unsold GTA condo inventory and convert it into affordable rental units.
The fund, called the GTA Rental and Affordable Housing Initiative, was announced last week between the Building Ontario Fund (BOF), a provincial Crown agency, and private investment firm High Art Capital.
High Art Capital says that the deal will create 2,200 rentals in the near term, with about 550 of them designated as affordable, which means they’ll go for 25 per cent below local market rent or 30 per cent of the gross median household income in the GTA. The BOF, which was created in 2024 to spur infrastructure investments, has committed $300 million to the fund.
“Timing matters in this market,” said Ryan Roebuck, managing partner at High Art Capital, in a statement. “There is a rare opportunity right now to convert newly completed but unsold housing into long-term rental supply. This initiative is designed to preserve a meaningful affordable component and help stabilize a critical segment of the GTA housing market.”
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High Art Capital says it will have an “open and competitive market process” to determine which condo units to buy, but they must come in blocks of at least 10 vacant units and have been completed on or after January 1, 2023.
The move comes as Toronto’s condo market undergoes a historic glut of inventory and low sales, causing few new starts.
