• 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.

The government wants to freeze social assistance rates and delay the scheduled increase in the Ontario Child Benefit. They also intend to cut the Community Start-up and Maintenance Benefit, which helps save the housing of thousands of tenants on social assistance each month who are facing eviction. The Budget would also get rid of the rental housing building inspectors where local government does not provide this service, which will result in increased substandard housing in rural and northern communities. The Budget also includes the fourth consecutive cut to the operating budget of the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing (MMAH), a 12% reduction from fiscal 2009.

The Liberal Government and the NDP have asked for our opinion. We need to tell them that:

• The Community Start-up Benefit should not be cut!
• Social assistance rates should not be frozen – people on assistance need an increase that will let them keep up with the rising cost of living!
• The full Ontario Child Benefit must be implemented now!
• Provincial building inspectors must continue to be available to keep rural and northern rental homes in good repair!
• Reverse the cut to the operating budget of MMAH

Answer the Liberals’ survey at:  http://budget2012.questionpro.com/

Contact the NDP at: http://www.ondpcaucus.com/yoursay/

All Ontarians should be able to equitably access housing they can afford, and supports should be provided to ensure thriving, inclusive communities. This budget should strengthen the economy, create jobs and support the construction of new affordable housing. There’s still time for us to reverse course and ensure that Ontario moves forward on reducing poverty and addressing the housing needs of people of all incomes.

“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.”

The PC Party response did not directly address the HNO questions and made no affordable housing commitments, instead focusing on removing the HST from home heating and hydro.

In response to the HNO’s questions, the Liberals pointed to their past achievements in the area of affordable housing. The Liberals recently introduced a long-term affordable housing strategy that provided greater flexibility for municipalities to address housing needs and recently matched federal housing funding for the next three years. The Liberals have also said they will consider a new housing benefit for low-income tenants but have not allocated any funding for such a program.

The NDP released their housing platform after they completed the HNO questions, and made commitments to a ten year housing plan to build 50,000 new units, with 14,000 of those coming in the next four years. They also committed to fund a new housing benefit at a cost of $240 million a year, and to introduce inclusionary housing legislation requiring affordable housing in new developments.

“Access to quality housing that they can afford is a vitally important issue for a high percentage of voters,” said Dirks. “We hope to see this reflected in the candidate debates, and in increased commitments by the parties to address the needs of the Ontarians they are hoping to serve.”

• 29% of Ontario households are tenant households.
• 152,000 households are on waitlists for affordable housing.
• 13 percent of Ontario households live in poverty – the rate is higher for people from racialized, immigrant, and Aboriginal communities, women, seniors, youth and people with disabilities.
• 627,530 households in Ontario are unable to afford shelter that meets adequacy, suitability and affordability norms, placing them in core housing need.
• Last year in Toronto, Ottawa and Waterloo Region 32,291 people stayed in homeless shelters.

The HNO formed in 2008, and over 450 organizations and individuals have endorsed our Declaration.  Full responses from the parties are available on the HNO website.

Poster

• 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.

The Toronto Star covered the issue in this story:

Let’s make sure it changes for the better!

The Government promised that the new Housing Services Act would make sure the affordable housing system ‘put people first’. The new law does not do nearly enough.

If the government is serious about a housing program that focuses on positive results for low-income Ontarians, the new Housing Services Act must be changed.  Take action by March 31st!

The Housing  Services Act must be changed to:

1. Prevent the privatization and sell-off of social housing:
Affordable housing strengthens the foundation of communities and is an important public asset. The Housing Services Act should make it illegal for municipalities to reduce the number of units of social housing.

2. Restrict punitive rent-geared-to-income rules:
Tenants on social assistance who live in social housing should not be worse off if they find a job. The Housing Services Act should protect tenants from rapid, unfair rent hikes if their income rises.

3. Improve fairness for tenants:
Tenants need an independent review process when disputing decisions made by housing providers, such as cancelling a rental subsidy. The people reviewing the decisions should not be the co-workers of the people who made them in the first place. The Housing Services Act should mandate the creation of an independent panel to consider these disputes.

4. Introduce Inclusionary housing:
One of the fastest and fairest ways to create stable, equitably accessible, affordable housing is to ensure that it is built into any new development. The government needs to amend the Planning Act to allow municipalities to introduce inclusionary housing policies.

5. Social Housing providers need a fair appeals process:
Under existing legislation, co-ops and non-profits have not had the ability to seek an independent review of Municipal Service Manager actions or decisions that did not involve costly court proceedings. The Housing Services Act must introduce an independent, fair and transparent appeals process for housing providers.

Tell the government that this opportunity to improve Ontario’s affordable housing system cannot be wasted.

Take Action NOW:

1. Copy this email and add your own reasons for the government to make these changes, then send it to the Standing Committee on Justice Policy , BEFORE MARCH 31, by emailing the clerk at: trevor_day [at] ontla [dot] ola [dot] org

2. Call/email your MPP and tell them that the new Housing Services Act, must be changed to better protect tenants and promote affordable housing.

Even with these changes, Ontario needs to improve the long-term affordable housing strategy by introducing targets and timelines and funding in order to meaningfully address the housing crisis. Ontarians need:
• New affordable housing units and repairs to rundown housing.
• A housing benefit and rent regulation to close the gap between low incomes and rising rents.
• Supports and services to help people access and maintain housing they can afford, and to ensure equitable, inclusive communities.

You can view the proposed legislation at:

http://www.ontla.on.ca/web/bills/bills_detail.do?locale=en&BillID=2440&detailPage=bills_detail_the_bill&Intranet=