Board of Directors Meeting - December 6, 2018

Agenda

1. Chair’s Remarks

Action: Information

Pre-read: Verbal Report

Presenter: Chair

2. Consent agenda

a. Approval of Public Meeting Agenda

Action: Approval

Pre-read: Agenda

Presenter: Chair

b. Chair’s Poll re: Conflict of Interest

Action: Declaration

Pre-read: Agenda and Conflict of Interest Policy

Presenter: Chair

c. Confirmation of Board of Directors’ Public Meeting Minutes of September 27, 2018

Action: Approval

Pre-read: Minutes

Presenter: Chair

d. Business Arising from the Public Meeting Minutes and Action Items Update of September 27, 2018

Action: Information

Pre-read: Action Item List

Presenter: Chair

e. Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) Policy

Action: Approval

Pre-read: TCHC:2018-46

Presenter: Senior Director, Fire Life Safety and Risk Management

f. Toronto Overdose Action Plan (Follow up report re TCHC:2018-33)

Action: Approval

Pre-read: TCHC:2018-48

Presenter: Director, Strategic Planning & Stakeholder Relations

g. 2019 Board and Committee Meeting Schedule

Action: Approval

Pre-read: TCHC:2018-50

Presenter: General Counsel and Corporate Secretary

h. Review of Board and Committee Charters

Action: Approval

Pre-read: TCHC:2018-52

Presenter: General Counsel and Corporate Secretary

i. Agency Houses Transfer

Action: Approval

Pre-read: TCHC:2018-53

Presenter: Director, Strategic Planning & Stakeholder Relations

3. President and Chief Executive Officer’s Remarks

Action: Information

Pre-read: Verbal Report

Presenter: President and Chief Executive Officer

a. Fire Life Safety Statistics

Action: Information

Pre-read: Presentation

Presenter: Fire Chief & General Manager

b. Monthly President's Report

Action: Information

Pre-read: TCHC:2018-49

Presenter: President and Chief Executive Officer

4. GCHRC Chair’s Report

Action: Information

Pre-read: Verbal Report

Presenter: GCHRCC Chair

a. Revisions to Board Policies

Action: Approval

Pre-read: TCHC:2018-51

Presenter: General Counsel and Corporate Secretary

5. TSC Chair's Report

Action: Information

Pre-read: Verbal Report

Presenter: TSC Chair

6. BIFAC Chair’s Report

Action: Information

Pre-read: Verbal Report

Presenter: BIFAC Chair

a. Interim Capital Repairs Budget

Action: Approval

Pre-read: TCHC:2018-54

Presenter: General Counsel and Corporate Secretary

TERMINATION

Minutes

The Board of Directors (“Board”) of the Toronto Community Housing
Corporation (“TCHC”) held a public meeting on December 6, 2018 at 10:20
a.m. in in the Main Floor Conference Room at 931 Yonge Street, Toronto
and via teleconference.

Directors in Attendance:

Kevin Marshman (Chair)

Councillor Ana Bailão

Amanda Coombs

Ubah Farah

Councillor Michael Ford

Linda Jackson

Colin Lynch (via teleconference)

Wendy Kelley

Nick Macrae

Brian Smith

Directors Absent:

Councillor Joe Cressy

Councillor Frank Di Giorgio

Debbie Douglas

Management present:

William Anderson, Senior Director, Community Safety Unit

Luisa Andrews, Vice President, Information Technology Services

Cathy Barker, Vice President, Human Resources

Ismail Ibrahim, General Counsel & Corporate Secretary

Hugh Lawson, Director, Strategic Planning and Stakeholder Relations

Graham Leah, Vice President, Asset Management

Rose-Ann Lee, Chief Financial Officer & Treasurer

Bruce Malloch, Director, Strategic Communications

Kathy Milsom, President & Chief Executive Officer

Lisa Ossowski, IHMS Project Manager

Yi-Mei Ting, Legal Counsel & Assistant Corporate Secretary

Joan White, General Manager, Seniors Housing Unit

Guest Presenter:

Matthew Pegg, Fire Chief and General Manager

A quorum being present, Mr. Marshman, the Chair called the meeting to order and Ms. Zina served as recording secretary. 

Item 1 - Chair's Remarks

The Chair welcomed everyone to the final Board meeting of the year, noted the Acknowledgement of the Land and provided the Board with the following highlights since the last Board meeting.

Councillor Frank Di Giorgio

The Chair recognized and thanked colleague, Councillor Frank Di Giorgio, who’s leaving the Board. Councillor Di Giorgio has served on the Board since 2015 as the Mayor’s designate. TCHC thanked him for his service to TCHC, its tenants and wish him all the best as he begins a new chapter in his career.

Toronto City Council

The new Toronto City Council met for the first time this week. Council approved recommended changes to City Council’s governance structure that accommodate the new 26-member Council. One change directly affecting TCHC’s Board is that Council voted to reduce the number of Council members appointed to its Board by one. TCHC will know which Councillor’s have been appointed after meetings take place on December 13th, 2018.

Fire Safety

The Chair welcomed Toronto Fire Chief Matthew Pegg. This time last year, TCHC’s CEO, Ms. Milsom announced a plan to implement a comprehensive program to enhance fire life safety for tenants in all buildings, in collaboration with Toronto Fire Services (“TFS”) and other stakeholders. 

Looking back at 2018

The Chair provided some highlights of what TCHC has accomplished over
the past year:

• The Board approved TCHC’s next four-year strategic plan.
• TCHC’s 2018 capital renewal program will deliver TCHC’s full $313 million plan by the end of the year.
• Responding to the Toronto Ombudsman’s recommendations, TCHC created a new crisis priority transfer process that enables TCHC to act in a timely manner when tenants face a direct, immediate, elevated and acute risk to their health or safety.
• Following City Council approval of a Tenants First report on housing for seniors, TCHC promptly established a Seniors Housing Unit within TCHC. The unit manages TCHC’s portfolio of seniors-designated buildings and is working with the City to design a service model for seniors housing that will improve access to services for all seniors and promote aging in place.
• TCHC partnered with Toronto Police Service to implement the Violence Reduction Program, and with extra funding provided by the Mayor we expanded our YouthWorx summer jobs program to hire 155 youth plus 23 coordinators.
• Savings from operational efficiencies were reallocated to tenant facing improvements, including hiring more special constables to the Community Safety Unit to increase the security presence in TCHC communities.
• Nearly 100 students from TCHC communities were awarded scholarships to pursue postsecondary education through a range of programs delivered with partners.
• TCHC opened new rental buildings in Lawrence Heights, Regent Park and Allenbury Gardens, began planning for phase 1 of the Don Summerville revitalization and worked to develop the master plan for renewing the Firgrove community. 
• In support of the City's efforts to increase the supply of affordable housing, TCHC offered 134 affordable rental units in three new buildings in Regent Park.
• TCHC began an open, competitive public procurement process to select a developer partner for phases 4 and 5 of the Regent Park revitalization that will lead to the best possible outcomes for tenants and the people of Toronto, consistent with or improving upon the work to date.
• After listening to tenants, revamped TCHC’s processes for developing the refreshed tenant engagement system In response to their concerns, and worked more collaboratively with tenants to identify community priorities and refresh 

Deputations

The Chair polled for any deputations to be heard at the meeting. The following deputations were presented:

Item 2D - Business Arising from Public Meeting Minutes and Action Items Update of September 27, 2018 (Deputed by Anita Dressler and Bill Lohman);

Item 2F – Toronto Overdose Action Plan (Follow up report re: TCHC:2018-33) (Deputed by Kathy Kunsman); 

Item 2G - 2019 Board and Committee Meeting Schedule (Deputed by Catherine Wilkinson);

Item 2I – Agency Houses Transfer (Deputed by Catherine Wilkinson);

Item 3B – President & Chief Executive Officer’s Report – October 2018 (Deputed by Dan King, Catherine Wilkinson and Miguel Avila); and

Item 4A – Revisions to Board-Related Policies (Deputed by Miguel Avila).

Item 2A - Approval of Public Meeting Agenda

The agenda was approved with the following changes:

The following items from the Consent Agenda were held for discussion:

• Item 2D – Business Arising from Public Meeting Minutes and Action Items Update of September 27, 2018;
• Item 2F – Toronto Overdose Action Plan (Follow up report re: TCHC:2018-33);
• Item 2G – 2019 Board and Committee Meeting Schedule; and
• Item 2I – Agency Houses Transfer.

The order of the following items was changed:

• Item 2H - Review of Board and Committee Charters – moved to the confidential session of today’s Board meeting.
• Item 3A – Fire Life Safety Statistics – held after 2B.

Motion carried

ON MOTION DULY MADE by Mr. Smith, seconded by Mr. Macrae and carried, the Board approved the revised agenda.

Item 2B - Chair's Poll re: Conflict of Interest

The Chair requested members of the Board of Directors to indicate any agenda item in which they have a conflict of interest, together with the nature of the interest. No conflicts were declared.

Item 2C - Confirmation of Board of Directors' Public Meeting Minutes of September 27, 2018

The Board had before it the draft public minutes for September 27, 2018.

Motion carried

ON MOTION DULY MADE by Ms. Jackson, seconded by Councillor Bailão and carried, the Board confirmed the above captioned minutes without amendments.

Item 2D - Business Arising from the Public Meeting Minutes and Action Items Update of September 27, 2018

Deputation by Anita Dressler and Bill Lohman were received with respect to
this item.

Motion carried

ON MOTION DULY MADE by Mr. Macrae, seconded by Ms. Farah and carried, the Board received the report for information.

Item 2E - Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) Policy, TCHC:2018-46

The Board had before it the above-captioned report (TCHC:2018-46) from the Senior Director, Fire Life Safety and Risk Management.

Motion carried

ON MOTION DULY MADE by Ms. Jackson, seconded by Councillor Bailão and carried, the Board of Directors unanimously approved the recommendations in this report.

Item 2F - Toronto Overdose Action Plan (Follow Up Report RE: TCHC:2018-33), TCHC:2018-48

Deputation by Kathy Kunsman was received with respect to this item.

The Board had before it the above-captioned report (TCHC:2018-48) from the Director, Strategic Planning and Shareholder Relations.

Motion carried

ON MOTION DULY MADE by Mr. Macrae, seconded by Ms. Farah and carried, the Board received the report for information.

Item 2H - Review of Board and Committee Charters, TCHC:2018-52

At the request of the Board, this item was moved to the confidential session of today’s meeting.

Item 2I - Agency Houses Transfer, TCHC:2018-53

Deputation by Catherine Wilkinson was received with respect to this item.

The Board had before it the above-captioned report (TCHC:2018-53) from the Director, Strategic Planning and Shareholder Relations.

Motion carried

ON MOTION DULY MADE by Mr. Macrae, seconded by Ms. Farah and carried, the Board of Directors unanimously approved the recommendations in this report.

Item 3A - Fire Life Safety Statistics (Presentation)

The Fire Chief & General Manager, Matthew Pegg provided the Board with a PowerPoint presentation on the above-noted matter. Some highlights/statistics included the following:

• Prior to 2016 – TFS met minimum legal requirements and inspections were complaint and/or request driven. TFS had not yet launched the comprehensive fire investigation division.
• In 2016 implemented:
  • development of pre-incident plans;
  • training of 500 TCHC supervisory staff; and
  • inspection of every TCHC high-rise at least once a year (exceeding provincial requirement).
• Current – after direction from City Council to launch the TCHC fire safety task force, annual inspections of all TCHC high-rise, mid-rise, low-rise, townhouse and seniors buildings was implemented.
• In 2018 dedicated resources were approved for: 6 inspectors, 1 captain, 2 fire investigators and 1 data analyst.
• The three leading causes of fire are trending down:

	2018	2017
Incendiary	17%	39%
Smoking	35%	31%
Candles	17%	11%
Other	31%	19%

​​​

• Issuance of notice of violations have decreased by 25%.
• Total violations have decreased by 46%.
• Number of informations sworn have reduced by 70%.
• Number of fatalities have dropped:

# of Deaths	Year
5	2016
5	2017
2	2018 YTD

Next Steps

• Inspect every TCHC multi-unit residential building annually;
• Continue to track and report on progress made; and
• TFS and TCHC must continue to work together to develop customized fire safety education campaigns based upon actual fire cause, violation and injury data.

The Fire Chief answered questions raised by the Board regarding any further recommendations TCHC can implement and improvement in TCHC buildings. The Fire Chief advised the Board that due to additional resources, TCHC is TFS’ top priority resulting in TCHC’s improvement being better than the rest of the City. The Fire Chief concluded by stating that so long as TFS and TCHC collaboratively continue making this a priority and sustain the service level we’ll continue on the right path.

Item 3B - President and Chief Executive Officer's Report – October 2018, TCHC:2018-49

The Board had before it the above-captioned report (TCHC:2018-49) from the President and Chief Executive Officer.

The following verbal deputations were received with respect to this report:

1. Dan King;
2. Catherine Wilkinson; and
3. Miguel Avila.

Ms. Milsom answered questions raised by the Board and a brief discussion ensued on leasing ratios. Lastly, Ms. Milsom noted IHMS and TCHC’s policy development are not on track.

Motion carried

ON MOTION DULY MADE by Mr. Smith, seconded by Councillor Ford and carried, the Board received the report for information.

Item 4 - Governance, Communications, Human Resources Committee (GCHRC) Chair's Report

The Chair of GCHRC provided a verbal update to the Board on the suggested changes to the revised policies presented.

Item 4A - Revisions to Board-related Policies, TCHC:2018-51

Deputation by Miguel Avila was received with respect to this item.

The Board had before it the above-captioned report (TCHC:2018-51) from the General Counsel and Corporate Secretary.

The Board and Management had a brief discussion and Management accepted feedback on suggested amendments to the Code of Ethics and Conduct.

This item was deferred to next Board meeting.

Item 5 - Tenant Services Committee ("TSC") Chair's Report

The Chair of TSC provided a verbal update to the Board on the activity at the last TSC meeting which took place on November 2, 2018, including the following:

• Seniors Housing Unit update;
• E-bikes issues was addressed and a study`s underway to address issues;
• Smoke free policy; and
• Process of tenant refresh.

Lastly, Ms. Jackson advised the Board that there were substantial deputations on the process of tenant refresh and recommends that this item be brought to the full Board.

Item 6 - Building Investment, Finance and Audit Commitee ("BIFAC") Chair's Report

No comments or remarks from the Chair of BIFAC were received at this time.

Item 6A - Interim Capital Repairs Budget, TCHC:2018-54

The Board had before it the above-captioned report (TCHC:2018-54) from the Vice President, Facilities Management.

Ms. Penny answered questions raised by the Board. The Board requested the list of specific projects prior to approving the report.

The Board and Management took a break from 12:10 p.m. to 12:29 p.m. to allow for Ms. Penny to provide the Board with hardcopies of the list of specific projects.

Motion carried

ON MOTION DULY MADE by Mr. Macrae, seconded by Ms. Jackson and carried, the Board of Directors unanimously approved the recommendations in this report:

1. increase the commitment from $50M to up to $170M from the proposed 2019 Building Renewal Capital Budget to undertake planning and tendering to the end of Q1 2019;
2. approve spend of up to $70M from the 2019 Building Renewal Capital Budget to the end of Q1 2019;
3. approve commitment of up to $136M to enter into multiyear contracts for projects initiated in Q1 2019 from the 2020-2022 Building Renewal Capital Budgets; and
4. authorize the appropriate staff to take the necessary actions to give effect to the above recommendations.

TERMINATION

The public meeting terminated at 12:35 p.m.