The Ontario government has consulted with organizations concerned about housing over the past several months.

Beginning in November, the government consulted on issues around the supply of housing in Ontario:

  • More than 2,000 submissions were received in response to a consultation document, with more than 85% coming from members of the public
  • The Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing held a Forum with a particular focus on innovation in housing in January 2019 with over 200 housing experts
  • The Ministry held dozens of meetings with communities and with technical experts

Between December 2018 and April 2019, building on past community housing sector consultations, the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing conducted focused technical discussions and stakeholder roundtables to inform Ontario’s Community Housing Renewal Strategy. These discussions included representatives of municipal governments, Service Managers, tenants and system users, the Indigenous housing sector, housing providers, and sector stakeholder organizations.

These discussions informed the development of both More Homes, More Choice: Ontario’s Housing Supply Action Plan and Ontario’s Community Housing Renewal Strategy. The issues raised concerning community housing and National Housing Strategy investments in Ontario included:

Protecting affordability

A key early focus for program investments should be on stabilizing the existing stock of social housing to preserve tenants’ affordable units, to improve the state of repair of units, and to protect the public investment that has been made in these projects.

Need for tenant supports

In order to successfully keep their housing and thrive in their communities, many vulnerable tenants need to access appropriate support services that meet their needs, in addition to receiving housing assistance.

Moving toward social housing sustainability

The goal of modernizing social housing to become more socially, environmentally and fiscally sustainable will take time to achieve. Some housing providers face greater challenges in moving toward sustainability, such as those with large proportions of their units dedicated to highly vulnerable tenants, or those with projects located in rural and remote communities where market rent levels are low.

Flexibility

Programs should be as flexible as possible to allow communities access to a range of housing solutions, including repair, new supply and affordability assistance, that can meet local housing needs, priorities and circumstances.

Addressing the housing needs of Indigenous Ontarians living off-reserve

Housing and homelessness services for off-reserve Indigenous peoples should be planned and designed by Indigenous peoples, be culturally safe, and be respectful of Indigenous priorities.

Streamlining reporting

Program reporting should be minimized so that Service Managers and housing providers can focus on effective delivery and helping Ontarians in need.

Funding

Further funding is needed to address unmet housing needs of vulnerable Ontarians and to address the repair backlog in social housing.

Addressing consultation themes

Ontario’s Community Housing Renewal Strategy sets the overall directions for community housing in Ontario. The program design for the Canada-Ontario Community Housing Initiative, Ontario Priorities Housing Initiative and Canada-Ontario Housing Benefit responds to the specific issues raised. Details of the program design and reporting plan are set out later in the Strategy.

Under the programs, Service Managers have a range of tools available to invest in preserving affordability for tenants and making repairs, to build capacity and to support housing providers to move toward social, environmental and fiscal sustainability. They also have tools to support the construction of new community housing stock, to support affordability through home ownership assistance and to provide tenant supports to promote housing stability.

For the first three years of the Strategy, program streams emphasize protecting tenants and stabilizing and preserving the existing social housing stock, as we move toward long-term financial and operational stability of high-quality community housing in Ontario.

Ontario’s systems planning approach recognizes the importance of enabling local communities to develop housing solutions that meet local housing needs. 47 Service Managers and two Indigenous Program Administrators across the province will administer and deliver the program streams, and the program approach is designed to be outcomes-based and flexible.

Ontario works closely with Indigenous partners to plan housing and homelessness services that best serve Indigenous peoples off-reserve. To do this, it engages with Indigenous Program Administrators, as well as representative organizations on both systems planning and program design. The program streams will include supporting Indigenous-focused legacy social housing programs to continue and to support new initiatives for urban and rural Indigenous households.