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, laughs, steeps and, of course, flats. It’s been a wild ride as we celebrate our first anniversary. And we’re seeing more fun ahead as we jump on for year two!
“If it was easy, someone would have done it already “
Year one highlights
The quick list: The top 12 +1 accomplishments from ourfirst twelve months. This year, Toboggan Flats:
- Started and incorporated: Evolved from an idea emanating out of Youthful Cities to an independent venture.
- Built a brand we love: A name and imagery that’s already creating buzz in housing conversations.
- Built a team with diverse lived experiences and housing and coliving expertise.
- Assembled an incredible team of policy advisors.
- Added an advisory group made up of young workers to bring fresh perspectives to our brand of coliving.
- Partnered with a group of really smart organizations to be among the first to better understand youth housing needs and their perspectives on coliving.
- Joined a global coliving incubator to maximize learning from a growing knowledge base.
- Met with six municipalities to explore partnerships and solutions. One of them, City of Calgary, created a coliving conversion incentive for downtown revitalization.
- Designed a world-first assessment model for office-to-coliving conversions.
- Test-fitted 3 million square feet of office space across six Canadian cities with that model.
- Spoke on city, national and global stages, championing coliving as a solution to Canada’s affordable housing supply and quality challenges.
- Got the US and Canadian media talking about youth, coliving and inventive affordable housing solutions.
+1 Bought our very own super awesome vintage toboggan—and it’s as cool as it sounds.
Scanning the slopes of year two
We’ve got big plans for the next 12 months. Toboggan Flats will:
- Raise investment funds to grow our team and gear up for our first buildings.
- Launch our first coliving buildings—likely in Toronto, Ottawa or Calgary or all three…:)
- Expand municipal understanding of and support for coliving.
- Establish a National Youth Housing Coalition with Youthful Cities and many others to spotlight the need for more and better housing options for young people.
- Accelerate awareness and interest in coliving nationwide.
- Oh, and when the first big snow hits Toronto, we’ll take the day off and ride our new toboggan. You are all invited.
Digging deeper into the wild ride of our first year
Want the full story? Here’s a closer look at the milestones that defined our first year.
Just start!
There are so many good ideas that sit there at the top of the hill, waiting. The think-and-do tank, Youthful Cities, gave us our first push. Their motto: Data-driven solutions that make cities more youthful. The data was getting clearer. Housing, jobs and mental health were the priority issues for young people 15-30 in Canada. Intertwined in their DEVlab research, these issues highlight the challenges for youth but also foreshadow the hollowing out of our cities. The lack of affordable housing is stressing young people out and pushing them away from jobs and learning opportunities in the city.
Time to rev up the “do engine” for affordable housing for young people downtown. Two opportunities surfaced to make for a magical pairing.
- Coliving: The notion of private rooms and shared facilities were expanding from family homes and cobbled-together friend rentals into a serious global industry with developments popping up all over the world. Students and seniors lived this way successfully. Young workers and professionals could too.
- Office-to-residential conversions: Several reports in 2023 touted the vast opportunities for repurposing vacant space. Yet affordability was elusive.
Bring the two concepts together, and voilà–we had a new affordable housing concept to get young workers back downtown closer to learning and work. And more benefits became apparent. Like attending to mental health by creating supportive communities and to the environment by reusing space and sharing resources.
A project within Youthful Cities at first, it was decided that, for Toboggan Flats to be successful, it had to be set up as a separate entity. And with that push, we were off on the ride of our lives.
Gather friends and knowledge fast
Lots of people hopped on with us and helped us steer.
The support was widespread and immediate. “This is such a good idea, how can I help?” was the ending of almost every meeting. The next steps they suggested were so helpful, pointing us toward the details that would shape our approach: zoning, operating coliving, financial challenges of affordable housing, building codes, fire egress, insurance, and more. Why hasn’t anyone else done this yet? Will young people want this? To answer these questions and more, we found the experts. Incredible architects, engineers, policymakers, financial wizards, insurers, construction experts, commercial real estate brokers, advisors and developers, housing researchers, coliving experts, young professionals searching for a place to call home, NGOs in the housing and youth sectors.
Our first quarter was about gaining momentum: learning and convincing ourselves that we had something special. We did.
Branding it
We were gaining some speed, but we wanted this to be a long, successful ride.
We needed to pull this together under a unifying brand and positioning. Better Together. Yes. That’s what coliving offers to residents. That’s what the relationship between youth and cities offers. That’s what our relationship with building owners offers. And, yes, the “Toboggan” was the symbol that made it better together. It’s so much more fun tobogganing with friends than it is alone. And the “flats”. A nod to housing and a bit of paradoxical fun, too.
Steering the coliving conversation in Canada
The biggest surprise of the year? The incredible amount of coliving developments around the world that are already successful and housing millions of people. Yet outside of student residences and seniors homes, Canada has very little coliving. We needed to get people talking—about coliving, about the need for youth housing, and about why Canada couldn’t afford to miss this opportunity. So, we started making moves to get the word out and bring others along for the ride.
Taking the Toboggan to our friends
When we had the chance to present at the Urban Land Institute (ULI), the Canadian Urban Institute (CUI), and even internationally in Amsterdam for the Co-Living Awards, we jumped at it. These platforms allowed us to showcase the potential of coliving, draw attention to youth housing challenges, and position Toboggan Flats as a thought leader in this emerging category.
The media – mostly American, started taking notice. Articles in the Washington Post and Forbes showcased Toboggan Flats. And a fabulous feature on CBC Radio brought youth voices to the story.
Doing the work on buildings
We know that to reach the bottom of the hill, we first need to hit that crucial jump. To line ourselves up just right, we evaluated more than 3 million square feet of office space across six cities, testing the feasibility for conversion into co-living spaces. This hands-on approach helped us refine our assessment model, learn what works (and what doesn’t), and set a strong foundation for future projects.
Doing the work with governments
In Calgary, we hit a major milestone: securing program inclusion that allowed government funding for coliving conversions. The incentive is a key step to breathing new life into the downtown core and creating vibrant, affordable spaces for young people to thrive.
Each of these milestones represents not just progress but proof that our vision is resonating. We’re laying the foundation for something bigger, and we couldn’t be more excited for what’s next.
And we’re just gaining speed.
Launching a movement
Toboggan Flats isn’t just about buildings—it’s about creating a movement. This year, we launched a petition advocating for change and have begun organizing a National Youth Housing Coalition to amplify the voices of young Canadians. We’re not just participating in the conversation; we’re shaping it.
Final thoughts
As we reflect on our first year, we’re humbled by the momentum we’ve built and energized by what’s ahead. Thank you to everyone who believed in our purpose, answered our calls, shared advice, or picked up a toboggan with us. Here’s to another year of invention, connection, curiosity, growth and changing the way Canada thinks about housing for young people.
