The Mission, As You Accepted It ...

On February 11, 2026, CivicAction convened 85 cross-sector leaders from across the GTHA to move workforce housing from conversation to implementation.

Public, private, finance, healthcare, non-profit, academic, and community partners came together with one shared focus: how to accelerate housing delivery for the workers who power our region.

This was not another housing panel. It was a working session.

Grounded in the insights of 306 collaborating leaders and CivicAction’s draft Workforce Housing Affordability Playbook for Action, participants stress-tested real partnership models designed to unlock supply, reduce barriers, and improve feasibility for middle-income housing.

The energy in the room was clear. So was the urgency.

What We Heard

Across keynotes, panels, and facilitated “Deep Dive” discussions, themes emerged:

• Standardized designs and streamlined processes can accelerate delivery when we treat housing as essential workforce infrastructure
• Communities must be engaged early to build trust and local support
• Scaling requires cross-government coordination, faster approvals, and the courage to reduce procedural drag
• Long-term financing tools and government-backed de-risking are essential to unlock private and institutional capital

Watch: Key Panels & Speakers

Keynote by Ana Bailão, CEO, Build Canada Homes

Address by Mayor Olivia Chow, City of Toronto

Welcome by Minister Robert Flack, Ministry of Municipal Affairs & Housing

A Playbook for Action: Introduction of a framework for essential partnerships to deliver affordability

With Tim Coldwell, President & CEO, Enska, Ray Williams, Chair & Co-Founder, Black Opportunity Fund, and Leslie Woo, CEO, CivicAction

Working as a Team: How key leaders can better align the GTHA through partnering and collaboration

With Ana Bailão, CEO, Build Canada Homes, Karli Farrow, President & CEO, Trillium Health Partners, Paul Johnson, City Manager, City of Toronto, and Carolyn Whitzman, University of Toronto

Partnerships in Action: Challenges and successes from the field with experts leading public, private, and not-for-profit projects

With Mayor Marianne Meed Ward, Mayor, City of Burlington, Nick Gefucia, SVP, EllisDon Community Builders, Kevin VanKampen, SVP, Business Banking, Meridian Credit Union, Jeanhy Shim, Founder & CEO, Crosswalk Communities, and Matti Siemiatycki, Director, Infrastructure Institute, University of Toronto

From Talk to Commitment

At the close of the Forum, participants shared “no-regrets” actions, like:

✔️ Act first

✔️ Be brave

✔️ Talk about the uncomfortable facts

✔️ Start with the desired outcome

✔️ Begin every project with a partnership conversation

What’s Next

The Workforce Housing Affordability Playbook for Action will be released in early spring 2026.

Thank you to Our Mission: Affordable Forum Sponsors

City Builders

• National Bank Capital Markets
• PwC Canada

Community Partners

• EMBLEM Developments
• Scotiabank

Supporter

• Alto

In-Kind Supporter

• EY Parthenon

Take Action

Be an amplifier: share this page or our PDF summary with a workforce housing champion you know, and join us today.