3 years after ceiling collapse at Toronto public housing complex, rebuild plan unveiled

Olivia Piercey · CBC News

· Posted: Nov 07, 2025 6:00 AM EST | Last Updated: 11 hours ago

Toronto Community Housing unveiled a program connected Thursday for the rebuild of a nationalist lodging analyzable aft its ceiling collapsed implicit 3 years ago, but it volition inactive beryllium years earlier the improvement is built, according to 1 metropolis councillor.

The Swansea Mews improvement program includes 3 towers, nationalist greenspace and much than 100 parking spaces. Between the 3 buildings, astir 650 residences volition beryllium included, immoderate of which volition beryllium affordable housing. 

In May 2022, tenants of the Swansea Mews were forced to permission their homes aft a ceiling collapsed and injured a woman. The building, located adjacent The Queensway and Windermere Avenue, has been vacant since engineers deemed each the buildings unsafe for radical to unrecorded there. More than 400 residents were displaced.

Gord Perks, councillor for the area, said Toronto Community Housing has been “racing astatine afloat speed” to implicit its plans. 

The readying and lodging committee endorsed the program successful April. The adjacent measurement is to get the improvement approved by metropolis council, Perks said. He said that volition apt hap successful February and said helium is assured the program volition get the greenish light. 

“The last portion is to nail down that [federal] funding,” Perks said. “We're having conversations with each transportation we person to the national government.”

“I'm optimistic, but it's not wholly locked successful yet,” Perks said.

He said it would inactive beryllium astatine slightest a mates of years earlier the physique is completed “even if everything goes right.”

Residents consulted successful improvement planning

Geeta Dixon is 1 of the residents who had to move. Now she is the tenant person for the revitalization task and helps pb nationalist consultations to program the development.  

“Losing your home, it's traumatic,” she told CBC Toronto connected Thursday, adding she loved walking astir the neighbourhood astatine Swansea Mews. 

Dixon said, erstwhile she had to permission her home, the connection betwixt the metropolis and the residents was poor. She said, now, she is included successful the process and it’s been bully to beryllium successful the loop connected aboriginal plans.

WATCH | City unveils plans for Swansea Mews rebuild:

“So engagement is there, we're getting the information,” she said. “It's precise important to person the tenant forces hurting.”

Everybody who lived successful the spot has a close to instrumentality astatine akin rents and akin portion sizes to what they had earlier the metropolis condemned the building, Perks has said. But the nonstop premix of rent-geared-to-income units versus those astatine marketplace rates depends connected national funding.

Toronto Community Housing volition big 2 much nationalist consultations to perceive from the assemblage earlier the caller year.

Shane Bourne, manager of revitalization and renewal communities with Toronto Community Housing, said the needs of the erstwhile residents are astatine the bosom of planning. For example, helium said they're considering the ways those needs are changing successful the clip it’s taking to rebuild, arsenic the colonisation and families age.

“Getting person and person to the clip of the return, there's deeper intentional engagements to afloat recognize the needs [of the residents] truthful that Toronto Community Housing tin champion accommodate them erstwhile they return,” Bourne said.

Dixon hasn’t decided yet if she volition instrumentality to Swansea Mews, but she said she thinks galore radical will, particularly if they person input successful what the improvement volition look like.