TDSB sitting on potential $1B that could renew or build new schools, its real estate arm says

The real estate manager for Canada's largest school board says part of the answer to its growing $3.7-billion repair backlog lies in its nearly 50 non-instructional properties.

The Toronto Lands Corporation (TLC), which manages the real estate portfolio for the Toronto District School Board (TDSB), says it has a plan to sell and leverage some of those non-instructional sites in an effort to find a potential $1 billion to reinvest over the next decade.

"A billion dollars can easily be translated into 50 or 60 new replacement schools," TLC CEO Daryl Sage said.

"As soon as you do that, you can see how all of a sudden the deferred maintenance problems the TDSB has will start to be significantly impacted in a positive way." 

Non-instructional sites are buildings the board owns that have no TDSB students in them. They are used for administrative purposes or are leased out —many of them to private schools.

The TDSB's total real estate portfolio is valued at around $15 billion to $20 billion, according to Sage. The board owns 5,000 acres of land, nearly 600 schools, 36 non-instructional or administrative sites and 11 parcels of vacant land. But it's still struggling to keep up with much-needed repairs at many of its existing schools.

"The school board is land rich and cash poor," Sage said.

The TDSB says its repair backlog could reach nearly $5 billion in the next few years — an issue exacerbated by the pandemic as problems like school air quality became top of mind. The board has identified eight schools that would cost more to repair than tear down and build anew, and another 101 that are at the tipping point. The TLC and TDSB chair say selling and leveraging the non-instructional real estate will help, as long as the provincial government can be flexible and remove some red tape.   

"We've built our mission and we've built our annual plan all around the idea of unlocking the potential that TDSB has in their land … to actually focus on building exceptional learning spaces for kids and for the community to enjoy as well," Sage said.

The TLC's focus right now is on non-instructional sites, which is part of a larger "modernization strategy" that would see schools become community hubs through partnerships with different levels of government to keep the buildings public.

For example, a non-instructional site could be developed with municipal and provincial partners to create a school complete with community services like a public library and pool, affordable housing and long-term care beds.

Krista Wylie, a parent and co-founder of the advocacy group Fix Our Schools, says she's on board with the plan.

"I think that's really an important delineation for people and politicians to consider is that this infrastructure that we happen to call a school today could be a community centre ... focused on senior citizens in 20 years," she said.

The TLC's early pilot projects include Davisville Junior Public School in midtown. The new school was a partnership between the province, the TDSB and the City of Toronto.