When a big-bank CEO starts talking about youth, we listen. In his recent pieces for the Financial Post, Victor Dodig, CEO of CIBC, makes a clear argument: if Canada wants to grow, it has to invest in young people. He’s worried our economy has drifted into “suspended animation” — stalled by high costs, slow policy, and […]
Wow! That was fast. Toboggan Flats cofounder Robert Barnard had a chance meeting with Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow and a National Housing Day event in mid-November. On December 6th we were presenting to Toronto’s Planning and Housing Committee prior to the Chair Gord Perks putting forward a motion for staff to create a plan for
Launching a new idea takes time—especially in the housing sector. Add the challenge of introducing a new category of housing—coliving—to Canada, and you’ve got yourself a patience-building exercise for the ages. But we need affordable housing for young people downtown NOW. We have felt that tension every day for the past 365. Hills, bumps, turns, thrills,
Last month, we shared that we were headed back to school—two Toboggan Flats team members joined the Artof.Co coliving incubator to learn from successful coliving operations around the world. We want to learn from the best so that we can be the best. The Artof.Co was launched by Gui Perdrix and Mayank Pokharna, two founders
How can you learn when you can’t count on a roof over your head? The lack of student housing in Canada affects us all. Thousands of university and college students are back on campus this week, but it isn’t all sunshine and rainbows as they begin a new academic year. For many, the start of
Last fall, our Toboggan Flats adventure got started thanks to powerful, data-driven insights from our founding partner, Youthful Cities. We heard that young people need more housing—and fast! They feel left out of the conversation, with little hope of getting in. At Toboggan Flats, we’re committed to building affordable co-living for young workers downtown. We
Thanks to CP24’s Codi Wilson for taking the time to talk with our founder, Robert Barnard, about the need for affordable housing for young people in city centres and how Toboggan Flats is working to provide it. Check out an excerpt from the article below: A Canadian think-tank has a plan to keep young people
Toboggan Flats founder Robert Barnard and research and outreach coordinator Theo Heintzman joined Walter Sendzik to discuss how we can create affordable spaces for young people to live and build communities. Listen here on iHeart Radio.
Our founder Robert Barnard sat down with CBC’s Mary Wiens in her last week to discuss the benefits of co-living. The pair discussed how co-living solves some of the challenges of office to housing conversions—namely, the expense of updating plumbing for each unit to have its own kitchen and bathroom. Not a problem with co-living.
By now it should be well-understood Canada has a housing crisis. Cost, inventory, housing form, location; all sectors and factors in Canada’s housing calculus are being called into question and under pressure. And as with any good crisis, decision-makers and elected officials have been rolling out policy announcements and solutions in response—for seniors, low income
