Toronto to run out of money to help homeless people pay market rents after only two months, city says

The city received less money this year for new recipients as soaring rents drove up costs for those already enrolled, province says.

Thestar.com
May 4, 2023
Victoria Gibson

A housing benefit meant to help Toronto’s shelter residents afford the city’s soaring rents and climb out of homelessness is set to run out of money after only two months.

Toronto city hall has been sounding the alarm about the portable housing subsidy program, which is on pace to run out of this year’s funds by May 31 -- a once-per-year funding allocation meant to last until the spring of 2024 -- amid climbing homelessness and the shuttering of shelters.

Last month, city officials said they would be receiving $9.5 million for the Canada-Ontario Housing Benefit (COHB) over the coming year starting April 1, compared to the $12.3 million it had received the year prior. The difference means it will be able to enroll 500 fewer new recipients into the program this year compared to last year, the city has said.

The province blamed the reduction in funding for new recipients on the reality of today’s soaring rental market, saying it needed to provide more money to those previously enrolled in the program to manage higher costs.

The benefit is meant to help bridge the gap between what a person can afford and market rents. But at the current rate of uptake, Toronto expects all available funding for this year to be spent within weeks -- meaning it will stop accepting referrals until money starts flowing again.

The head of the city’s shelter department, Gord Tanner, is now calling for an extra $20 million in COHB funding to weather the year.

“The shelter system is currently serving twice as many people as it was six years ago. Despite continually adding new beds, there is increasing pressure on the shelter system, which is at capacity most nights,” Tanner wrote in a recent city report. “Even at the service level of almost 9,000 spaces, we are unable to match all people reaching out for shelter.”

City data shows Toronto’s homeless population swelled to 10,811 people in March from 9,933 people a year before. In March of this year, the latest month included in public reporting, an average of 119.8 people each day were turned away after calling for shelter space.

Meanwhile, the city is continuing with plans to shut down its pandemic-era shelters, with the downtown Strathcona Hotel -- home to youth and adult programs -- set to close this summer.

The appeal to dedicate more money toward the COHB program has seen some criticism. Diana Chan McNally, a Toronto community worker, penned a letter for a recent city committee meeting that highlighted the program’s projected end date in 2029.

“In six years ... will people simply become unhoused again, and signing up for a social housing wait-list that is over a decade long?” she wrote, in reference to Toronto’s 84,583-household waitlist for rent-geared-to-income housing.

Outreach worker Greg Cook said the COHB program is still one of only a few available exit routes from homelessness, as many shelter occupants rely on social assistance programs.

Right now, the average single person on the province’s disability supports receives a maximum of $1,228 per month, $522 of which is earmarked to cover their housing costs.

Meanwhile, Urbanation says the average purpose-built rental apartment in the Toronto area has edged above $3,000 per month.

While Toronto also spent through its benefit allocation before the end of last year, Cook said, the money was now disappearing faster. It’s why he’s hoping to see city council declare homelessness as an emergency at its meeting next week -- with a city hall committee already green-lighting the move.

“The landscape is just awful for people who don’t have much money to get housing.”