The leasing arrangement in a downtown Toronto development between The United Church of Canada and the Anglican Church of Canada has been stalled indefinitely while the Anglican Church sorts out whether the agreement between the churches signed last year is “legally enforceable.”

The problem stems from a financial agreement signed by the United Church, Anglican Church and the Presbyterian Church in Canada. The three denominations agreed last year to share offices at Bloor Street United’s redeveloped property at 300 Bloor St. West. At a recent General Synod meeting, Canon (lay) Clare Burns told Anglican Church members that the agreement was signed before it received approval from its General Synod and therefore may not be valid. A completion date for the 300 Bloor St. West project is still unknown.

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Archdeacon Alan Perry, general secretary of General Synod, and treasurer and chief financial officer Amal Attia signed the lease in April 2024. Perry is now on a leave of absence.

Harry Li, executive officer of finance for the General Council of the United Church, states emphatically that before signing, each of the three parties followed a rigorous protocol.

“From our perspective, we followed the process strictly. And the other thing to add is before the lease agreements were signed, each denomination hired their own legal consultant and spent considerable time reviewing the lease agreement. So, all that being said, I’m quite surprised about the recent news,” he said in an interview with........

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