Communities, schools and the 2026 election

Two years ago, the TDSB approved a plan for a new “Scarborough City Centre School” on land owned by the City of Toronto and the TDSB through its subsidiary, Toronto Lands Corporation (TLC.  The TLC manages the Board’s real estate portfolio worth up to $20 billion. When completed the school at 705 Progress Avenue would educate about 975 students from kindergarten to grade eight. It’s part of a larger venture with Toronto’s Create TO to develop more affordable housing, park space and community services on the site.

How to make it work?

This was the question considered by Elementary Teachers of Toronto (ETT) president Nigel Barriffe and Metro Tenant Union (MTU) co-chair Bruno Dobrusin. The issues involved are fundamental to projects like this. As Barriffe explained at a press conference yesterday morning: “I can tell you what teachers across the city know all too well; you cannot separate what happens inside a classroom from what happens outside of it. When a child comes to school hungry, that affects their ability to learn. When a family is struggling to pay rent or worried about losing their home, that affects their child’s well-being.” This dilemma also includes educators of all sorts who can’t afford to live where they work.

A brand-new school, on its own, won’t make much difference to the kids who attend it without someone addressing their basic needs for housing, good nutrition and a safe supportive community. Families that can’t afford housing move a lot and, as Dobrusin pointed out: “…displacement breaks our communities apart and our children carry that cost into each classroom they walk into.” He says that housing can’t rely on private developers who are using the housing crisis to make more profits. Every unit the city builds, he argues, needs rent control – no exceptions. It is the equivalent of a minimum wage to workers; no tenant should have to endure housing without rent control.

Both Barriffe and Dobrusin think that 705 Progress Avenue is a welcome opportunity to build something good for Toronto, but it must hear from the people affected by it: families, tenants, and people who live and work in the community. This includes educators who know what happens when schools become overcrowded or families are displaced. It includes workers who know that more and more of their income goes towards rent. Tenants across the city support the fight for community input as Dobrusin adds, to take housing out of the market and make it a human right.

ETT has taken on a more activist role in the 2026 municipal election. Its “Education in the Home Campaign” asks important questions of those who would be mayor of Toronto:

• • • Will you support formal educator representation on the CreateTO Board, including the appointment of an ETT-designated representative through the  appropriate City Council process?
    • Will you support a city-wide universal lunch program ensuring Toronto students have access to nutritious food at school?
    • Will you ensure ETT and affected educators have meaningful representation and consultation in future city and CreateTO planning involving TDSB properties, beginning with 705 Progress Avenue?

Candidates are asked to respond to the above questions by tomorrow. Responses will be made public on Friday.

Imagine a school in which kids could interact and learn without fear of having to move because their families can’t cope with the latest rent increase. Imagine such a place where hunger is never a consideration: a school where people gather – one that’s a hub of the community.