New development can bring more housing, businesses, public spaces, infrastructure and investment to a neighbourhood.
But for many current residents, another question matters just as much:
Will the people who already live here be able to stay and benefit from that growth?
That concern is especially important in parts of Ward 7 experiencing significant planning and development around Jane Street, Finch Avenue West and the Line 6 Finch West corridor.
The City of Toronto’s Jane Finch planning work explicitly recognizes that growth should benefit both current and future residents and includes an anti-displacement strategy intended to reduce the risk that investment leads to existing residents being pushed out.
Growth Can Bring Benefits — But They Are Not Automatic
New development can potentially create several benefits for existing residents.
More housing can increase the overall supply of homes.
New commercial space can bring businesses and services.
Construction and new businesses can create employment opportunities.
Development can also contribute to new parks, public spaces, pedestrian connections and community facilities.
However, those benefits do not automatically mean that existing residents will be better off.
If rents rise faster than household incomes, affordable businesses disappear or existing tenants lose their housing, a neighbourhood can gain investment while some long-term residents lose their place in it.
That is why the key question is not simply whether development happens.
It is:
Who benefits from the development, and what protections exist for the people already living there?
Affordable Housing Is One Part of the Answer
One way cities try to connect development with affordability is through inclusionary zoning.
Toronto’s inclusionary-zoning policy is designed to require affordable housing within certain new residential developments near major transit stations.
Under the City’s current framework, qualifying developments will generally be required to provide five per cent of residential units or residential floor area as affordable housing, with those units remaining affordable for 25 years.
However, there is an important limitation.
Ontario Regulation 15/26 introduced transition rules that mean Toronto’s inclusionary-zoning requirements do not apply to development applications submitted before July 1, 2027.
That means residents should not assume every new development currently proposed in Ward 7 will automatically include affordable units under inclusionary zoning.
Each project needs to be checked individually.
What Does “Affordable” Actually Mean?
The word affordable can mean different things in different contexts.
Toronto’s Official Plan uses income-based definitions for affordable housing.
For rental housing, affordability is connected to household income as well as City-wide rental benchmarks.
This matters because a unit described as affordable under one program may still be difficult for some lower-income households to afford.
Residents looking at a proposed development should therefore ask:
Affordable to whom?
The answer should identify the income level or rent standard being used rather than relying only on the word “affordable.”
Protecting Existing Renters Is Just as Important as Building New Units
Building affordable housing is only one part of preventing displacement.
Existing renters also need stability.
The Jane Finch Community Development Plan identifies renter protection as part of its anti-displacement work.
The City’s plan includes actions related to tenant-rights education, eviction prevention, renter support, maintaining existing rental buildings and expanding affordable housing.
That distinction matters.
A neighbourhood could gain new affordable units while still losing long-term residents from existing buildings if those residents face rising costs, poor conditions or displacement.
A serious anti-displacement strategy therefore needs to consider both:
new affordable housing and protection of existing housing.
Jane Finch Has an Explicit Anti-Displacement Strategy
Toronto’s Jane Finch Community Development Plan includes a dedicated Anti-Displacement Strategy.
The City says the strategy is intended to help existing Indigenous, Black and equity-deserving residents benefit from new neighbourhood investment rather than being displaced by it.
The plan identifies several possible areas of action.
These include tenant-rights education, renter supports, considering displacement impacts during development reviews, exploring community land trusts and other community ownership models, and expanding access to affordable housing.
The plan is intended to evolve over time, and some actions depend on future funding, partnerships and implementation.
So the existence of the strategy should not be confused with proof that every displacement risk has already been solved.
Residents should continue asking which measures have actually been implemented.
Local Jobs Should Be Part of the Benefit
New development can also benefit current residents through employment.
The Jane Finch Community Development Plan includes Inclusive Employment Opportunities as a major action area.
It specifically discusses opportunities for community-benefit initiatives connected with employment and procurement.
This raises useful questions for major developments.
Will local residents have access to construction jobs?
Will contractors recruit within the community?
Will training or apprenticeship opportunities be available?
Will local businesses have opportunities to compete for contracts?
How many of the jobs will continue after construction is finished?
Simply saying that a project will “create jobs” does not answer those questions.
The strongest local-benefit commitments identify who can access those opportunities and how progress will be measured.
Local Businesses Need Space Too
Development can also change the cost and availability of commercial space.
That can create challenges for small businesses that already serve the neighbourhood.
The Jane Finch Community Development Plan includes Inclusive Entrepreneurship Opportunities, with the goal of helping residents start and grow businesses and improving access to appropriate and affordable commercial space.
The Jane/Finch Centre also identifies local economic development and securing community benefits from public and private development as part of its community-development work.
For residents, this raises another question:
Will redevelopment create opportunities for existing local businesses, or will rising commercial costs push them out?
That should be considered alongside housing affordability.
Community Space Can Be a Real Development Benefit
Development does not have to benefit residents only through housing.
Projects can also contribute to public and community spaces.
For example, planning around the Jane Finch Mall redevelopment has included proposals involving public gathering areas, community space, affordable commercial opportunities and local economic development.
Public spaces can provide long-term value when residents can actually use them and when the programming reflects local needs.
But residents should distinguish between conceptual renderings and legally secured or funded commitments.
A proposed plaza shown in a development presentation is not necessarily the same as a completed public space.
Community Ownership Could Help Residents Stay Connected to the Neighbourhood
One longer-term anti-displacement idea identified by the City is community ownership.
The Jane Finch plan includes exploration of community land trusts and cooperative ownership models.
A community land trust typically separates ownership of land from ownership or operation of buildings, with the aim of keeping land under long-term community or non-profit stewardship.
Such models can potentially help preserve affordability because the land is not treated purely as a speculative asset.
However, creating these models requires land, financing, governance and long-term organizational capacity.
They should therefore be understood as potential tools rather than guaranteed solutions.
Existing Residents Should Have a Voice Before Projects Are Approved
Community engagement is another important part of development.
The Jane Finch Initiative was developed through consultations involving residents and community organizations, and the City says community input helped shape the Secondary Plan and Community Development Plan.
For individual development applications, residents can also follow public planning meetings, staff reports and Council decisions.
Useful questions include:
- How many affordable units will the development include, and how long will they remain affordable?
- Will existing rental units be replaced if they are demolished?
- What protections exist for current tenants?
- Will local residents have access to jobs or training?
- Will affordable commercial or community space be provided?
- What new parks, pedestrian links or community facilities are secured?
- Which commitments are legally required, funded or simply proposed?
- How will residents be able to track delivery after approval?
These questions help turn broad promises about “community benefits” into commitments that can be followed over time.
A Current Ward 7 Example: 2775 Jane Street
One current development application in Ward 7 is 2775 Jane Street.
Toronto City Council approved zoning amendments for the site in April 2026.
The importance of examples like this is not to assume whether a project will ultimately be beneficial or harmful.
Instead, residents can use official planning records to ask