Homeownership & Wealth
Today, Homeowners, White people, and men continue to profit off of colonization while renters, people of colour, and women become more vulnerable to poverty and exploitation.
Government led land use and financial systems must address this inequality, by investing in systems that build the ability for communities to become more inclusive.
Partna was designed to be a roadmap on how to do this. To learn more about how Partna works, click below. To build a community of residents interested in the development of inclusive neighbourhoods policy, fill out the survey here.
Inequality is Built into The Existing land Use system
Currently, 2/3rds of Toronto's Residential Neighbourhoods permit only detached housing
This is 197km², larger than the size of the municipalities of Aurora, Newmarket, and Richmond Hill combined.
All three equal to 189.4km²
How did this come to be? Who does this benefit?
Current Property Systems Are a Product of Colonization and Treaty Breaking
The purchase of Toronto happened through an disingenuous process. While the purchase was formally made in 1805, the British settlers did not honour their end of the agreement. In 1815, only 10 years after the signing of purchase, the First Nations had to write a letter to the Crown asking for protection from British settlers. The transfer of land wealth further harmed Indigenous people as in return for a reduction in safety, hunting and fishing rights, the British paid the Indigenous First Nations people a paltry 40lbs of bread worth in money.
Due to colonization Indigenous First Nation's people are less likely to own homes, and are more likely to be homeless (Toronto Aboriginal Research Project).
Colonization Further Compounded by Patriarchy and Classism
Single family only housing neighbourhoods were designed to prioritize male led and hetero households. In 1903, Toronto architecture magazines said low rise apartments would lead to women "no longer having care for raising a family", and in the 70s women were fined for living together in groups of 4 - despite this cohousing being a vital method for affording housing in Neighbourhoods which only include detached housing.
This exclusionary land use practice, and its accompanying finance systems make women and people of colour more vulnerable to poverty and exploitation.
