January 19 eNews

Dear friends and neighbours,

As you all know, I have been working on limiting the proliferation of payday lending in Ward 5 for many years. I am dedicated to strengthening existing policy and regulatory frameworks to keep predatory lenders out of our Ward. I am very pleased to provide you with an update from the recent Planning and Housing Committee:

City Planning Staff will do a jurisdictional scan of cities successfully addressing predatory lenders, such as Ottawa and Hamilton, so that Toronto can also successfully address this matter. Municipal Licensing and Standards Staff have been directed to examine the feasibility of prohibiting predatory lenders from locating anywhere near AGCO licensed establishments, pawnshops, social services organizations serving low-income residents and social housing, including Toronto Community Housing Corporation. Staff will report back on their findings to prevent clusters of payday lenders in our neighbourhoods.

Sincerely,
Frances