Toronto Built One of Canada’s First Public Housing Projects

Part of

collection

In the early 1900s, the Toronto Housing Company was founded to tackle overcrowding and poor living conditions in the city.

Long before the housing crisis of today, Toronto was already asking the same question: How do you make homes affordable for everyone?

In the early 1900s, the Toronto Housing Company was founded to tackle overcrowding and poor living conditions in the city. Backed by civic leaders and reformers, it became one of Canada’s first affordable housing initiatives, building model homes that aimed to combine comfort, design, and social progress.

More than a century later, its story still echoes through Toronto’s housing debates — reminding us that the dream of accessible living has always been part of this city’s history.

1912

Toronto Housing Company (THC) is founded to build affordable homes for low-wage earners.

View Toronto Timeline

More by Did You Know?

Toronto Hosted the NHL’s First-Ever All-Star Game

Video

• 2:20

The Raptors Were Almost Named The Bobcats

Video

• 2:39

The Yorkville Rock

Video

• 2:00

The Rise and Fall of the Scarborough RT

Video

• 2:46

The History of PAT Supermarket

Video

• 1:36

The Story of Myrtle Cook McGowan

Article

More by Places

The Yorkville Rock

Video

• 2:00

The History of PAT Supermarket

Video

• 1:36

The History of Toronto’s Cecil Centre

Article

The Don River Funeral

Video

• 1:49

Toronto Has the World’s Largest Underground Pathway

Video

• 2:01

The Unexpected Evolution of the Leslie Street Spit

Video

• 0:58