Regulatory Changes to the Housing Services Act

Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing
Office of the Minister
777 Bay Street, 17th Floor
Toronto ON M7A 2J3

March 31, 2022

Dear Heads of Council and Chairs of District Social Services Administration Boards:

In April of 2019, our government announced the Community Housing Renewal Strategy (CHRS) which outlined our plan to work with Ontario’s partners in municipalities, non¬profits, and housing co-ops to stabilize and grow the community housing sector.

We have already made great progress achieving these objectives as evidenced by the Protecting Tenants and Strengthening Community Housing Act, 2020 (Bill 184), which supports our government’s plan to ensure all Ontarians can find a home that meets their needs and budget.

Our government has delivered on the CHRS by:

  • Launching programs under the National Housing Strategy to maintain affordability and rental support for households, grow community housing supply, and connect households with opportunities for homeownership;
  • Providing over 9,000 low-income households with portable housing benefits (PHB) through the Canada-Ontario Housing Benefit (COHB);
  • Making life easier and safer for tenants and housing providers by simplifying Rent-Geared-to-Income (RGI) rules, changing waitlist rules to allow vacant units to be filled more quickly, and limiting access for those previously evicted for criminal activity; and
  • Passing amendments made to the Housing Services Act, 2011 to enable the creation of a new regulatory framework for community housing that is more efficient and better meets households’ needs.

It is with great pride that I can inform you that our government is introducing a new regulatory framework under the CHRS. The new regulatory framework responds to our extensive consultation with the sector and stabilizes Ontario’s community housing system for those who live and work in it.

We have made regulatory changes to protect much-needed community housing across the province and make sure the system is sustainable over the long term.

The new community housing framework encourages housing providers to remain in the system by signing service agreements. This will protect critical community housing supply and encourage housing providers to continue to offer deeply affordable rents for tens of thousands of Ontario households.

These changes will ensure community housing is there for the people who need it most by requiring Service Managers to set local income and asset limits and continuing to prioritize survivors of domestic violence and human trafficking for rent-geared-to-income assistance.

These changes will also improve efficiency and update accountability rules to encourage new programs that meet local housing needs.

These changes will begin to come into effect on July 1, 2022, with full implementation by July 1, 2023.

For your information, copies of the regulations are posted here: 
https://www.ontario.ca/laws/regulation/r22242  
https://www.ontario.ca/laws/regulation/r22241 

On behalf of our government, I would like to extend our thanks for your work in developing the new framework. We look forward to continuing to work with our municipal partners to develop guidance material to support implementation of these changes in local communities over the coming months.

Sincerely,

Steve Clark 
Minister