Article written by Chloe Logan for Canada’s National Observer on December 22, 2025.
A rendering of Kennedy Green. Image submitted
Tom Clement finally has a reason to be excited after 30 years of watching the cooperative housing sector stagnate: ground has been broken on Ontario’s largest yet co-op housing development.
“I know everybody's happy about the shovel going into the ground, but I can honestly say that I am one of the happier people about it,” said Clement, who is executive director of the Co-operative Housing Federation of Toronto and has worked in the sector for nearly 50 years.
This month, construction started on the Kennedy Green development, which will host more than 600 co-op units in Scarborough, a district of Toronto where buildings produce nearly 60 per cent of the city's emissions. The first phase, which includes two non-profit co-op towers, is set to finish up in 2029, while an additional 307 market units will be built as part of the second phase of construction.
Clement hopes the project represents a sea change for the co-op sector in the city — speedier approvals, more units — but also, an era that is defined by climate progress. Kennedy Green is heated and cooled with geothermal energy, which is notable at a time when the province of Ontario is pushing the expansion of its natural gas network. It will also use significantly less energy than a code-compliant building and reduce embodied carbon emissions by using concrete and rebar with recycled content.
Embodied carbon accounts for all emissions produced during a structure's building phase — from the manufacturing of materials such as windows and doors to the transport of those materials, and then the energy consumed during construction.
The geothermal system, along with the energy efficiency measures and prioritization of low-carbon construction materials, all fits into the One Planet Living framework that guided the development of the project, explains Steve Dulmage from Urban Equation, the building consultancy company for the project.
Kennedy Green is heated + cooled with geothermal energy, which is notable at a time when Ontario is pushing the expansion of its natural gas network. Also, the project is energy efficient and tackles embodied carbon through recycled materials.
One Planet Living pushes past other green building standards like LEED to include a holistic framework that targets affordability, climate, health and livability, said Dulmage. The idea is that climate-friendly buildings make residents happier and more connected and that considering benefits such as community connection along with emissions reductions works best in tandem.
That applies to the geothermal energy system, which will make the buildings cheaper to heat and cool than with natural gas. The energy will snake up to the building from wells that are currently being drilled 850 feet into the ground to access water naturally warmed by the earth.
It’s a viable energy source, but geothermal has yet to take off in Canada as it has in other countries. Iceland is an apt example: the country heats 90 per cent of its homes with the energy source. There’s also California, where 650 active geothermal wells produce energy that accounts for about six per cent of the state’s electricity production.
Jenny McMinn from Windmill Development Group said that geothermal makes more sense for a larger project like Kennedy Green than a heat pump system. She explains that geothermal is essentially “free energy from the earth,” and minimal additional energy is needed to power a pumping system. There’s also the consideration of the physical footprint of the energy system — heat pumps would likely take up valuable rooftop space on the co-op project.
Proximity to subway, regional transit
Another green benefit is the project’s location, Clement explained. It neighbours a TTC subway station and is close to a regional GO train station, as well as the future site of a stop along the long-awaited Eglinton Crosstown light rapid transit line.
As demand for co-op housing continues to rise, Clement hopes more projects like Kennedy Green can move quickly through approval processes and find the necessary funding. In this case, the city put forward $35 million in funding and accelerated the required zoning approvals, a process that took just 69 days in total, while the federal government kicked in $289 million through its co-op housing development program.
Just a year ago, the Co-operative Housing Federation of Toronto had more than 6,000 applicants to a co-op expansion project of 24 units. Building more projects in the city will help reduce urban sprawl and offer people affordable housing at a time when it’s desperately needed, said Clement.
“We need different levels of government to work [together]. And now we're in that position with Kennedy Green, because we're working with the federal government and we're working with the municipal government,” he said.
“And so all you know, all systems are go. On a climate story. I hate to say ‘the perfect storm,’ but I think I will.”