Who We Are

St. Clare’s is a social justice landlord and developer working in active partnerships to create sustainable, safe, and affordable housing solutions.

St. Clare’s pursues a vision in which pragmatic, judgement-free approaches to housing are recognized as the best way to enhance neighbourhoods and create healthy communities for everyone by providing safe, diverse, respectful environments in which once marginalized people have the opportunity to expand their agency and capacity.

St. Clare’s Housing, originally named St. Clare’s Multifaith Housing Society, was formed in 1998 by people who knew that the only way to end homelessness was to build affordable housing. Our first building was a four-story, medical office complex at 25 Leonard Avenue, across the street from Toronto Western Hospital. The building “became vacant in the late 1990s after Toronto Western merged with Toronto General. St. Clare’s purchased it in 2001 and converted it into one-bedroom apartments, which are rented to people who were formerly homeless. 25 Leonard was an ideal candidate for conversion into affordable housing. The building contained more than 20,000 feet of useable space and was in good repair, meaning that rehabilitation costs were minimal. It had an elevator and was wheelchair accessible. And, it [is] located at the corner of Dundas and Bathurst Streets, beside Toronto’s bustling Kensington Market and close to public transit.

The one-bedroom apartments retain[ed] the modest, 330-square-foot dimensions of the doctor’s offices that preceded them, and each ha[d] its own kitchenette and bathroom… St. Clare’s ha[d] established referral arrangements with local social service agencies and shelters to provide more extensive assistance to residents, as needed. St. Clare’s was as resourceful in financing the project as they were in conceptualizing it. The typical practice among non-profit corporations is to wait to secure government funding before launching a project. In 1998, with no such funding on the horizon and the homelessness problem worsening daily, St. Clare’s took the unusual step of obtaining a line of credit from a local credit union, which enabled it to bid on existing properties in spite of its limited cash base. It also forged partnerships with private sector consultants, who managed the project through its early stages, waiving their fees until funds were available. By the time 25 Leonard was purchased, new government funding for social housing had come on stream, and St. Clare’s was able to proceed with the conversion of the building into affordable housing by drawing on a number of different funding sources. Key components included a grant from the Supporting Communities Partnership Initiative (SCPI), GST and PST rebates, waived municipal taxes and development charges, and a 5-year rent supplement commitment that covers the gap between the market rents St. Clare’s charges and the Ontario Works single shelter rate… [St. Clare’s] also obtained a conventional first mortgage from First National Financial Corporation and a second mortgage from the Canadian Alternative Investment Co-op, which are amortized over the term of the rent supplement program. The conversion was completed in December 2001…” (TD Economics, Affordable Housing in Canada: In Search of a New Paradigm (Toronto: TD Bank Financial Group, 2003)).

From our start at 25 Leonard Avenue, we have expanded to 8 buildings with more in development. Through these projects, St. Clare’s has become well-regarded for our work as housing developers and operators. In the past 20 plus years, we have preserved housing stock across Toronto, even executing full tower renewals without tenant displacement. Buildings like 25 Leonard Avenue and 1120 Ossington have had additions developed to improve economy of scale. Once it was possible, St. Clare’s also started developing new builds, like 180 Sudbury Street.