Estimated reading time: 12 minutes

The World Cup spotlight rarely lands here. It should.

Canada is playing its first home World Cup match on June 12. The story dominating coverage is what happens on the pitch, the players, the goals, the history being made.

But nine days before the tournament began, a quieter story landed that says something just as important about what this World Cup moment means for Canada.

On June 2, 2026, Dream, Kilmer and Tricon (DKT), the developers behind some of Toronto’s most celebrated purpose-built rental communities, announced a new housing partnership with Canada Soccer. The goal: provide affordable homes in Toronto for the emerging players, youth coaches, and staff who form the foundation of Canada’s soccer ecosystem.

What the partnership actually does

The DKT/Canada Soccer housing program will provide access to designated affordable homes at Cherry House, an 855-unit purpose-built rental community in Toronto’s Canary Landing neighbourhood.

The numbers: Approximately 30 per cent of Cherry House, 257 homes, are designated as affordable. A portion of those units has been allocated to support Canada’s sport sector.

Who qualifies: Eligible individuals at Canada Soccer, AFC Toronto (Canada’s professional women’s soccer team), and North Toronto Nitros. The program supports players at different stages of their development, youth coaches, and staff.

The referral partner: The Canadian Sport Institute Ontario (CSIO) will manage housing allocation through DKT’s housing referral program.

The amenity: Cherry House includes Club Apex, a full-size commercial-grade gym, giving athletes access to training and recovery facilities within their building.

“Sport has the power to lift and unite Canadians, reinforce national pride, and serve as an important development tool for youth in our communities. Cherry House reflects that approach, integrating affordable homes for the players, coaches, and staff who make soccer possible in Canada.”

— Andrew Joyner, Senior Managing Director & Head of Multi-Family, Tricon

Why housing matters for sport development, and why Toronto makes it harder

Toronto is one of the most expensive cities in North America to rent. The average one-bedroom apartment sits at approximately $2,099 per month as of May 2026, representing roughly 30 per cent of the gross income required to afford it comfortably.

For a developing athlete or a youth soccer coach, often earning well below market-rate professional salaries, that figure is a real barrier. Not a theoretical one. The DKT/Canada Soccer partnership treats housing as what it is: infrastructure for athletic development, not a peripheral concern.

“Sport has the power to lift and unite Canadians, reinforce national pride, and serve as an important development tool for youth in our communities. Cherry House reflects that approach, integrating affordable homes for the players, coaches, and staff who make soccer possible in Canada.”– Andrew Joyner, Senior Managing Director and Head of Multi-Family at Tricon

The Canary District connection, a circle that closes

Cherry House sits within the Canary District, the Toronto neighbourhood purpose-built as the Athletes’ Village for the 2015 Pan American Games. That development transformed flood-prone industrial land in the West Don Lands into a functioning neighbourhood: 810+ condos and townhouses, George Brown College residences, a YMCA, an 18-acre park.

Now, more than a decade later, the same neighbourhood is providing affordable homes for the next generation of Canadian sport, right as Canada hosts its first World Cup. The neighbourhood built for athletes is housing the athletes who will carry Canadian sport forward.

The purpose-built rental model, and why it matters here

Cherry House is purpose-built rental, designed and built to be rented, not sold, with long-term tenants in mind. The DKT/Canada Soccer partnership demonstrates what this model can do that condo towers cannot: integrate social and community mandates from the ground up. The 257 affordable units are 30 per cent of the building by design, not an afterthought.

For Toronto’s housing conversation, that’s a meaningful proof point. Affordable housing doesn’t require sacrificing building quality or community. It requires building it in from the start.

Key note

Purpose-built rental with an affordable mandate, in a neighbourhood with historic sport roots, supporting athletes playing in Canada’s first home World Cup. This is what housing legacy looks like when it actually works.

What this means for Toronto’s housing conversation

The same model, purpose-built rental with embedded affordable mandates, designed around the needs of specific community groups, could be applied to nurses, early childhood educators, artists, and anyone whose work matters to the city’s functioning but whose income doesn’t keep pace with its cost.

The World Cup brought the cameras. This partnership is building something that stays after they leave.