How the Province Plans to Improve Community Housing

Insauga.com
April 23, 2019
Robert Koumarealas

Over the course of 2019 to 2020, the Ontario Government is providing more than $1 billion to help build, repair and maintain affordable community housing.

The province’s new Community Housing Renewal Strategy, outlining the government’s plan to transform the current system into one that is more streamlined, sustainable and ready to help people who need it most.

Steve Clark, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, made the announcement in Newmarket today. “Our government believes Ontario families shouldn’t have to live in buildings with crumbling walls, leaking roofs and broken elevators. We will work with municipalities and non-profits to address issues like safety, overcrowding and long wait lists.”

Providing roughly 250,000 individuals and families with homes, community housing is vital to curbing homelessness throughout the province. And from 2014 to 2018, the previous provincial government under the Liberals contributed 57 percent of spending on homelessness and affordable housing.

“As the Chair of Housing York, I am very aware of the lengthy wait that our citizens have in attaining affordable housing,” said John Taylor, Mayor of Newmarket. “By introducing asset limits and increasing the efficiency of the offer process we can be more responsive to those applicants with the highest needs.”

The Provincial Government's Community Housing Renewal Strategy included a list of goals to improve community housing across the province:

• Encouraging tenants to seek opportunities at school and work by removing existing penalties for working more hours or going to college or university;
• Making rent more predictable by simplifying rent calculations;
• Freeing up the waitlist by having tenants prioritize their first choice and accept the first unit they are offered, while allowing Service Managers flexibility to make exceptions in extenuating circumstances;
• Protecting tenants who receive child support payments by ensuring their rent is not impacted by payments;
• Making housing available to those who truly need it by requiring an asset test; and
• Making housing safer by empowering housing providers to turn away tenants who have been evicted for criminal activity.

“We are putting families first and investing more in housing and homelessness, including supportive housing, than any other level of government,” said Clark.

“Despite the challenging fiscal environment we inherited, we will protect this critical investment. We are committed to matching the federal dollars under the National Housing Strategy and look forward to negotiations on the Canada-Ontario Housing Benefit.”