THE GREEN LINE
DOCUMENTERS NOTES
How to chime in on a proposed student rental tower in Kensington Market
The City held a community consultation over a proposed student rental tower on 333 College St. in Kensington Market. Residents and developers shared opposing views.
The proposed site for the 19-storey student rental tower at 333 College St. in Kensington Market.
: Sebastian Tansil/ The Green Line.
SEBASTIAN TANSIL
Caring mastermind based in Kensington-Chinatown who loves spending quality time with friends and family. Empathetic and precise economist by training. Loves amber yellow as it reminds him of people dearest to him.
Mary Newman
British-Canadian journalist with a decade’s experience producing for the BBC and CBC. Hails from Robin Hood country so naturally hates wealth inequality and loves organized labour. Now resides in the dog paradise of Roncesvalles.
Oct. 24, 2025
These meeting notes are part of Documenters Canada, which is partly funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). Learn more about our program here. The Green Line maintains full editorial independence to ensure journalistic integrity.
Toronto says it needs more affordable housing for students.
In April, the City adopted an Academic Housing Strategy to "understand the current housing needs of post-secondary Toronto students and develop meaningful solutions."
Now, Toronto City Council is considering an application by Parallax Development Corporation for a 19-storey rental tower that would include 746 student rooms at 333 College St. in Kensington Market.
A community consultation was held virtually on Oct. 16 for residents to ask questions and provide feedback on the proposal.
The meeting was chaired by community planners Abraham Plunkett-Latimer and Hector Alonso. University-Rosedale councillor Dianne Saxe also attended the meeting, alongside representatives from the developers and local residents.
The proposed building, which won't provide affordable units, has been granted permission to go ahead by the Ontario Land Tribunal. This bypasses the requirements of the Kensington Market Heritage Conservation District or HCD plan, which aims to ensure that new buildings fit in with the mostly 19th and early 20th century architecture of the neighbourhood.
Coun. Saxe acknowledged the tensions among community members over the proposal but said that “there are many issues that are important to people that are beyond our power to deal with…the provincial government, the Ford government, they control the Planning Act, which is the act that sets the rules for what we can and cannot do.”
Saxe also noted that she received a letter from the Kensington Market Community Land Trust, which demanded that a certain percentage of these units be affordable. She said that the Ford government blocked the City from having the authority to require that condition.
To read the full notes with arguments from the developer as well as locals, check out the write up on the Documenters Canada website.
The proposed site for the 19-storey student rental tower at 333 College St. in Kensington Market.
: Sebastian Tansil/ The Green Line.
A statutory public meeting at the Toronto and East York Community Council will be held on Nov. 27 to provide additional opportunities for the public to speak to the application. The Community Council will then make a recommendation to the City Council, which is then set to vote on the proposal between Dec. 16 and 18.
Community members can chat with City planner Abraham Plunkett-Latimer about the proposal at Abraham.Plunkett-Latimer@toronto.ca.
Coun. Diane Saxe said residents can stay updated via her monthly newsletters and can provide feedback at her recurring town hall, usually held on the third Thursday of every month, or by email at Councillor_Saxe@toronto.ca.
Our Documenter's local perspective:
Documenter Sebastian Tansil has lived in Kensington Market since 2019, when he first moved into the neighbourhood as a fresh graduate student from the University of Toronto. The main obstacle Tansil faces in continuing to live in the neighbourhood is a lack of certainty around rent affordability, which he says threatens the bohemian character and livability of Kensington.
According to Statistics Canada, the average monthly rent in Kensington Market in 2021 was $1,618 — it has now risen to around $3,050 according to Zumper.
Based on his experience living in the neighbourhood and serving as a member of the Kensington Market Community Land Trust, Tansil says: “You have developments coming into a rapidly gentrifying area that are never affordable, and people keep getting displaced for [new developments] to happen.”
Recently, his neighbours were illegally locked out of their properties and threatened with eviction by property management on behalf of Vault Capital Inc., while the building was put up for sale.
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