2024-25 Homelessness Prevention Program (HPP) Investment Plan Approval

Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing

Housing Programs Branch
777 Bay Street, 14th Floor 
Toronto ON M7A 2J3 
Email: tanisha.lewis@ontario.ca

Wednesday, August 28, 2024

Donna Stewart
Chief Administrative Officer
Manitoulin-Sudbury DSB 
210 Mead Boulevard 
Espanola, P5E 1R9

Dear Donna Stewart:

Re:    2024-25 Homelessness Prevention Program (HPP) Investment Plan Approval

The Ministry has completed its review of your Investment Plan for the Homelessness Prevention Program (HPP) and I am pleased to confirm approval of the plan as attached.

As a reminder, Service Managers are required to report back on their Investment Plans three times throughout the fiscal year in addition to a Year-End Report as per the following due dates:

The Ministry will review your quarterly report-backs to track progress towards your planned quarterly spending amounts. Service Managers are required to submit all reports through the Ministry’s Transfer Payment Ontario (TPON) system.
 
Capital Funding 

Funding for capital projects must be committed no later than November 30, 2024. Commitment is defined as:

For New Facilities projects

• Signing a Contribution Agreement with the project proponent; and,
• Registering security on title for conversion, conventional, or modular housing projects or submitting an Agreement of Purchase and Sale for acquisition projects.

The executed Agreement of Purchase and Sale must have a closing date no later than March 1, 2025, for acquisition projects.

For Retrofit projects

• Submission of a completed Project Information Form
• An executed loan agreement and promissory note securing the funding entered and submitted in the TPON System for ministry review and approval.
• The Service Manager is responsible for selecting all eligible projects, monitoring progress, completion of projects, quality of work, and for advancing funds.
• Once an eligible project has been approved by the Service Manager, a completed Project Information Form along with an executed loan agreement and promissory note securing the funding must be entered and submitted in the TPON System for ministry review and approval to commit the funding.

All capital projects must commence development activities within 120 days of the date of commitment and be completed within two years.

Operating Funding

All operating funds allocated must be fully spent by March 31, 2025. Operating expenditures are considered spent if funds have been paid by March 31, 2025, and if not paid, owed to others as of March 31, 2025, by the Service Manager.

Any funding that is not committed and spent by the above timelines, or that is not used for an eligible expense under the Program Guidelines shall be returned to the Ministry on demand.

Use of Funding

HPP funding is to be used only for eligible program activities and that best efforts are made to ensure the prudent use of these public funds. As with all Ministry-funded programs, program funding should be used to meet program objectives while ensuring value for money. The Ministry retains the right to audit Service Managers expenditures under the program.
 
Please note that funding allocated for administration must only be used to support the delivery of programs and services funded through the HPP and cannot be used for any other purpose. Administration funding not required for HPP administration may only be redirected to eligible HPP activities.

Service Managers must make best efforts to ensure that planned operating and capital expenditures are accurate. If changes in operating and capital funding are required, Service Managers must submit a business case to the ministry for approval. Please note that requests to realign operating and capital funding made after November 30th of the fiscal year may not be approved.

If you wish to make an announcement related to capital funding, I would like to remind you that you are required to notify your municipal services office well in advance for consideration by the province.

Thank you for your continued commitment to supporting the province’s most vulnerable households.

Sincerely,
 
Tanisha Lewis
Director, Housing Programs Branch

Enclosure

c. Cindy Couillard, Team Lead, Regional Housing Services, MSO-North East Jennifer Dillon, Account Manager, Housing Programs Branch