Tenant Engagement System

What is the Tenant Engagement System?

The Tenant Engagement System is the formal system of engaging tenants living in Toronto Community Housing, with the goal to increase tenant participation in local decision making.

Tenants and staff have worked together over the past several years to develop a new Tenant Engagement System that encourages and empowers more TCHC tenants to get involved in local decision-making in their community. Learn more about how the tenant engagement system was developed at TCHC and our improvements over the years.

The Tenant Engagement System supports an inclusive and accessible environment that promotes dignity and respect, free of discrimination and harassment.

Guided by the principles for effective and meaningful engagement – Respect, Equity, Informative, Inclusiveness, Accessibility and Collaboration, TCHC is committed to a robust and effective tenant engagement process and equitable opportunities for all tenants.

The vision of the Tenant Engagement System is to foster relationships with tenants and build vibrant communities through diverse, inclusive and collaborative methods that give all tenants of Toronto Community Housing Corporation a voice and input into community-related decision-making.

The foundation of the Tenant Engagement System is the needs and priorities identified by tenants through a priority-setting process. Tenant priorities inform the focus of all structures in the Tenant Engagement System. Tenant priorities will also inform our approach to partnership development and our program and service delivery model.

Tenant Engagement System Review 

Toronto Community Housing’s (TCHC) Tenant Engagement System was recently reviewed. We are focusing on implementing recommendations from this review.   

During this period, we are postponing tenant elections so that we can develop a thorough implementation plan. This will give us time to address how to implement the new recommendations with tenant input, especially those about leadership and participation. 

Find out more about the review and the recommendations. 

Key Objectives of the Tenant Engagement System

The City-Wide Tenant-Staff Engagement Advisory Committee developed a shared vision, core values and principles, and key objectives to guide any changes to the current Tenant Engagement System. They are as follows:

1. Establish a Governance System: TCHC collaborates with tenants to build a democratic system that will "provide for tenant input for decisions at the corporate and local levels." 
2. Create an accountability framework: The refreshed Tenant Engagement System must be accountable to the needs of communities, tenants and TCHC's Shareholder Direction.
3. Knowledge and information: building profile:  Communities and tenant leadership can be strengthened through a systemic examination of tenant demographics and community needs and assets.
4. Communications: Building a successful communications strategy that emphasizes the importance of clear, concise and timely communication.
5. Increase tenant participation: Support and provide resources where tenants are engaged and have opportunities to thrive and play leadership roles to build their communities.
6. Capacity building for tenants and staff: Providing TCHC team members with the right tools to do their work and build their skills and develop tenant capacity to increase participation.

Review our Questions and Answers (PDF) document for more information about the Tenant Engagement System.