New research by TMU’s Dr. Nemoy Lewis exposes the profound and often overlooked consequences of major transit investments on Toronto’s affordable housing landscape. While projects like the Finch LRT are framed as advancements in urban mobility, they are simultaneously intensifying gentrification and exacerbating the displacement of low-income and racialized communities. Though financialized landlords are key drivers of these transformations, their ability to reshape urban housing markets is not inevitable—it is structurally enabled by the failures of the state. Dr. Lewis’s research reveals how government at all levels actively cultivates the conditions for financialization to thrive, whether through policy neglect, inadequate tenant protections, or infrastructure investments that galvanize speculative real estate activity. By prioritizing infrastructure expansion without instituting robust anti-displacement protections, governments are not merely bystanders but active architects of the conditions that allow financial actors to exploit housing markets. By prioritizing large-scale transit expansion without embedding meaningful anti-displacement measures, governments do not merely abdicate responsibility; they shape a housing landscape that enables financial actors to commodify housing, extract value, and drive displacement with little resistance.

Join ULI Toronto for a deep dive into this critical issue, ahead of the release of a landmark academic journal report on how the still-unopened Finch LRT is already affecting the Black community in Jane-Finch. And learn about how social enterprise industry leaders and community activists are pushing back.

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