Executive summary

The federal government developed the National Housing Strategy (NHS) in partnership with provinces and territories (PTs) and launched it in 2017. The NHS provides a long-term federal funding commitment for 10 years from 2018-19 to 2027-28. The NHS sets the strategic framework for federal, provincial, and territorial governments to work together to achieve better housing solutions across the housing continuum, from homelessness to homeownership.

PTs cost-share and deliver some NHS initiatives and the federal government provides funding to PTs for the initiatives they co-fund and deliver. Ontario and the federal government signed a Bilateral Agreement in April 2018 to implement the NHS. The Agreement requires the province to develop and submit an action plan to the federal government every 3 years that lays out how Ontario intends to use federal and cost-matched funding to meet the targets and outcomes agreed to with CMHC.

This 2022-23, 2023-24 and 2024-25 Action Plan builds on the achievements of the previous plans to provide even more assistance to households in need.

Ontario’s current 3-year action plan is operationalized through 3 provincially delivered NHS initiatives:

  • Canada-Ontario Community Housing Initiative (COCHI)
  • Ontario Priorities Housing Initiative (OPHI)
  • Canada-Ontario Housing Benefit (COHB)

The current overall program design and objectives of these 3 initiatives will be maintained for 2022-23, as noted in the 2022-23 Interim Action Plan, as well as the 2023-24 and 2024-25 fiscal years. With the exception of a ministry-recommended revision to the COHB benefit calculation to address the current inflationary environment which will come into effect for the 2023-24 and 2024-25 years and an update to the funding allocation model for COCHI which came into effect in 2023-24.

The COHB benefit calculation is based on income and CMHC Average Market Rents (AMRs). As such, any extraordinary increases to AMRs result in higher monthly benefits, impacting NHS targets. As well, the COHB benefit calculation, updated for 2023-24 in response to concerns that AMRs are not reflective of asking rents in many communities, has resulted in deeper benefits for households with higher shelter costs. Revised modeling of the program shows a reduction to less than 50,000 targeted households expected to be assisted by 2027-28.

Key highlights of the 3-year action plan (2022-23, 2023-24 and 2024-25) are as follows:

  • A description of the housing challenges faced by Ontario related to affordability, supply, supportive housing and homelessness.
  • Details on how Ontario is addressing these housing challenges through various priorities including Ontario’s market housing supply initiatives (and associated legislation), the Community Housing Renewal Strategy, and the Multi-Ministry Supportive Housing Initiative, and programs such as the Homelessness Prevention Program (HPP) and Indigenous Supportive Housing Program (ISHP).