December Reflections from Circle

With the new year approaching, our team at Circle has been reflecting on all that has happened during the last six months. Between June and October, Toronto Community Housing transferred ownership of over 550 scattered houses to Circle. Since June, our staff has been busy inspecting homes, helping Tenants get their rent payments switched over to Circle, completing maintenance requests, and most importantly, getting to know our Tenants better.  

Tenants have shared a lot of feedback with us during these first six months, and we are listening. We’ve heard a lot about the importance of follow-up and status updates for maintenance requests. We’ve also heard that Tenants want communication to be easy and accessible for everyone: some Tenants prefer online correspondence, while others prefer phone calls and mailed letters. Our staff are hearing all of this, and are working hard to make sure that we become the best landlord we can be. And this work will continue in 2023.  

The Transfer of homes to Circle is an important milestone – As a Land Trust, Circle will protect your homes and keep them permanently affordable. And what’s more, over the next five years Circle will be carrying out a repair and renovation plan to bring all of the homes into a state of good repair, and address major long-term goals of improving environmental sustainability, and increasing accessibility. We are looking forward to sharing an overview of that work with Tenants in early 2023.  

As we take this moment to reflect, we also wish to express our gratitude for the patience and cooperation shown to us by our Tenants during these busy six months. We are proud to be your new nonprofit landlord, and look forward to working with you to carry these special homes into the future.  

The Circle team wish you rest and enjoyment during the holiday season, and for the new year.  

Warmly,  

Alia and the Circle Staff