Best Practices for Healthy Housing Quality in Toronto

Best Practices for Healthy Housing Quality in Toronto is an NHS funded Solutions Lab led by the Wellesley Institute and SHS Consulting. The Lab will be looking at addressing the disrepair and deterioration of housing in older rental apartment buildings. The team will work with tenants, apartment owners and managers, city staff and other stakeholders to find solutions to this problem.

Project scope and expected outcomes

How will the lab be conducted?

Wellesley Institute and SHS Consulting will use a five-phase Solutions Lab co-design process. Here are the steps:

• The Definition Phase will set up the team, process and expectations for a successful co-design process. A Partner Advisory Committee will be formed and will include people from all main partners in the lab.
• The Discovery Phase will develop a deeper understanding of the current issues, roles and systems in and outside of Toronto. A Problem Framing workshop will bring together experts and key people to confirm the things stated in the problem.
• The Co-Development Phase will create a space for a range of stakeholders to develop ideas in a creative, inclusive way. This phase has two workshops. One will help narrow in on types of solutions that may emerge. The other will focus on thinking critically about the impacts of proposed solutions as well as implementation angles. The goal of this phase is to arrive at a preferred and feasible set of policy and program options.
• The Prototype and Testing phase will create a space to test and assess what is promising and can be put in place. The responses or solutions will be chosen based on what was learned in the Discovery and Co-Development phases.
• The Roadmap, as the final phase, will include steps to implement the solutions after the project winds up.