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The 2012 Ontario Budget is out of step with the reality facing hundreds of thousands of Ontarians who struggle with a lack of the healthy, quality, equitably accessible housing they can afford.

• There are 1,301,395 tenant households in Ontario and 125,000 residents living in housing co-ops; accounting for almost one-third of our province’s population.
• Over 13 percent of households live in poverty in Ontario and 627,530 of these households are unable to afford shelter that meets adequacy, suitability, and affordability norms, placing them in core housing need. Persons with disabilities, people of colour, single mothers, Aboriginals and new immigrants are all disproportionately among this number, and most, but not all of these, are tenants.
• Thousands more stay in homeless shelters across Ontario; for instance, in 2010, 22,276 people in Toronto, 7,156 people in Ottawa and 2,859 people in Waterloo Region had to stay in homeless shelters.

And yet the 2012 Ontario Budget failed to move forward on constructing new affordable housing or providing a housing benefit to help people pay the rent. Instead, Finance Minister Duncan tabled a budget that threatens the ability of Ontarians to keep a roof over their heads. (read more...)

The Housing Network of Ontario (HNO) is calling on all parties to commit to housing policies that ensure Ontarians of all incomes have access to good, livable housing they can afford. The HNO asked the Liberals, NDP and PC Party to outline their affordable housing policies and asked each party to commit to policies that included clear targets, funding, legislative change and accountability measures. "From homeless people using shelters, to renters and home owners who aren’t properly housed, there are hundreds of thousands of Ontarians who face a housing crisis every day. It is characterized by a severe lack of good, livable housing that they can afford," said Yutaka Dirks, HNO co-chair. "While both the Liberals and the NDP have made some commitments to affordable housing, the PC Party has not come out with policies to help Ontarians with their largest household expense." (read more...)

On October 6^th, Ontarians will head to the polls to vote for their members of provincial parliament.  The political parties must keep in mind:

• There are 1,301,395 tenant households in Ontario and 125,000 residents living in housing co-ops; accounting for almost one-third of our province’s population.
• Over 13 percent of households live in poverty in Ontario and 627,530 of these households are unable to afford shelter that meets adequacy, suitability, and affordability norms, placing them in core housing need. Most but not all of these are tenants.
• Thousands more stay in homeless shelters across Ontario; for instance, in 2010, 22,276 people in Toronto, 7,156 people in Ottawa and 2,859 people in Waterloo Region had to stay in homeless shelters.

And yet, the housing concerns of these Ontarians are rarely addressed by government, and are almost never one of the issues discussed during the election campaign. Now is the time to for commitment from our next MPPs.  See the Take Action page to see what the Housing Network of Ontario has called on the parties to do to help end the housing crisis in Ontario. (read more...)

Thousands of tenants in Ontario are struggling to pay for housing, as rents continue to climb. In addition to measures to protect affordability in the private rental market, such as changes to the Residential Tenancies Act to ensure landlords cannot raise rents on vacant units beyond rent regulation guidelines, the Housing Network of Ontario supports improving the incomes of tenants in Ontario so they can afford housing costs. One way to do this is through a housing benefit. Visit the Daily Bread website to learn more. (read more...)

Bill 140, the Strong Communities Through Affordable Housing Act, was passed by the Ontario Legislature on April 19, 2011.  The Act replaces the Social Housing Reform Act with the new Housing Services Act, and also makes changes to other housing laws in Ontario.  The Housing Network of Ontario and it's partners called for many changes to the new Act, which the government failed to make, except to retain a veto on sell-offs of social housing by municipalities.  There is still much work to be done to improve the housing system in Ontario, and we will continue to advocate for affordable housing and an end to the housing crisis. The Toronto Star covered the issue in this story: (read more...)