Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing
Assistant Deputy Minister’s Office
777 Bay Street, 14th Floor
Toronto ON M7A 2J3
April 1, 2022
Service Manager Chief Administrative Officers
Service Manager Housing/Homelessness Directors
Dear Colleagues:
As follow-up to the recently announced new consolidated Homelessness Prevention Program (HPP) on March 7, 2022, I am writing to share further information regarding the program requirements, as referenced in the HPP Program Guidelines, including the enclosed:
- HPP Performance Indicator Technical Reporting Guide; and,
- Ontario Service Manager By-Name List 2022 (BNL 2022) Guidelines.
1. HPP Performance Indicator Technical Reporting Guide
The HPP Performance Indicators have been designed to provide meaningful measurement of program effectiveness in achieving outcomes and overall progress towards reducing chronic homelessness. The performance measurement approach is informed by recommendations from the Office of the Auditor General of Ontario (OAGO)’s Value for Money Audit of Homelessness Programs (2021). In particular, a key recommendation was to strengthen measurement of homelessness and monitoring outcomes for people experiencing homelessness and at-risk of homelessness.
The Performance Indicator Technical Guide provides instructions on collecting and reporting on a set of key HPP Data Elements for each annual reporting period. The aim of the guide is to enable consistency and accuracy in the collection of the information from Service Managers across the province. Service Managers are expected to begin collecting the HPP Data Elements in April 2022, with intention of reporting to the ministry through the HPP year-end report due on May 31 of each year.
2. Ontario Service Manager By-Name List 2022 (BNL 2022) Guidelines
As noted in the HPP Program Guidelines, Service Managers must continue maintaining their By-Name List in accordance with the provincial requirements and implement the new requirements by April 1, 2023.
The BNL 2022 Guidelines include a prescribed set of data points, and broader coverage and comprehensiveness which will help communities better understand the needs of people experiencing homelessness to more effectively connect people to services and supports they need.
These new requirements build on the previous ones, respond to the OAGO’s Value for Money Audit of Homelessness Programs recommendations, and support the goal of addressing and reducing homelessness as outlined under HPP.
To support Service Managers in their implementation of the BNL 2022 requirements, the province is continuing its partnership with the Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness (CAEH) in 2022-23.
To ensure communities are on track to meet the requirements by April 1, 2023, Service Managers must submit an Implementation Plan to MMAH by July 29, 2022. This Implementation Plan should outline how the Service Manager has achieved or plans to achieve the BNL 2022 requirements. The Implementation Plan template is available in a separate attachment accompanying these Guidelines.
Next Steps
The Ministry will be hosting an Information Session in April with Service Managers to review these requirements and answer any questions. Details of this Information Session will follow shortly.
I look forward to continuing to work in partnership with Service Managers on improving housing outcomes for vulnerable people across Ontario.
Sincerely,
Joshua Paul
Assistant Deputy Minister
Housing Division