Frontline social agencies say affordable housing funds are going unspent in the Greater Toronto Area because Ontario’s rent supplement levels are mismatched with the market. In a recent joint submission to the provincial budget consultation, they call for an increase in the portable benefits provided for low-income tenants to obtain private rental housing.

Rent supplements are meant to bridge the gap between recipients’ geared-to-income share and the actual market rate, but that disparity has been widening and the program’s maximum caps are falling short of the rents private landlords can typically command. The non-profit agencies — including United Way Greater Toronto, Peel Poverty Reduction Committee, Social Planning Toronto and Social Planning Council of York Region — argue that rent supplements need to be a more effective piece of the affordable housing strategy given the longer timelines for adding more supply.

“The province already invests in a variety of rent supplements and benefits, but doesn’t get the full value of that investment as many rental supplements go unused due to shifting market conditions. A small additional investment could help existing rent supplements meet the growing gap between affordable rents and market rents, and create affordability for hundreds of renters, especially those urgently in need of rehousing,” they submit.

The social agencies also urge the provincial government to: crack down on unlawful evictions; help non-profit developers secure lower-cost public land for affordable housing development; re-evaluate how the loss of development charges (arising from the recently adopted More Homes Built Faster Act) will affect municipal housing programs and restore funding accordingly; and extend expiring operating agreements with housing co-operatives to help keep rents affordable.

“We are losing 20,000 units of existing affordable housing each year in Ontario, which is far faster than we are building it,” says Yvonne Kelly, co-chair of the Social Planning Council of York Region. “It is important that government zero in on investing in housing in this budget.”