Waiting list 2016_FINAL_Web

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1 0 20 1 6 WA I T I NG L I S T S S URV E Y R E POR T
LOOKING FORWARD: A new HOUSING SYSTEM
14. The 2016 Update to the Long-Term Affordable Housing Strategy is available at:
15. Many households require both financial and non-financial forms of assistance in order to secure housing that is affordable, adequate, and in good
repair. This combination is crucial to ensuring that these households have the support and resources they need not only to access housing, but also
to remain housed over time.
This spring, the Ontario Government
released its update to the Long-Term
Affordable Housing Strategy (LTAHS)14. The
updated LTAHS identifies two overarching
outcomes that the government wants to
achieve: decreasing
the number of
households experiencing
homelessness, and
increasing the number
of households that
have achieved housing
stability15. These
objectives align with
other government
priorities, such as the commitment to end
chronic homelessness in 10 years.
The changes announced in the LTAHS have
a direct impact on current systems for RGI
housing. The Ontario Government has
recognized that RGI housing is limited and
that different people require different levels of
support in order to achieve housing stability.
With this in mind, new forms of assistance are
being explored.
The term “service level standards” refers to the
minimum amount of RGI housing that service
managers must maintain in their communities.
In the updated LTAHS, however, the Ontario
Government has committed to introducing
legislation that will
allow service managers
to use other forms of
housing assistance, such
as housing benefits,
to meet their service
level standards. This
change will allow
service managers to
use existing resources
to develop new models and strategies to
respond to housing and homelessness in their
communities. It may also help social housing
providers to create stronger, mixed-income
communities, by allowing organizations to rent
their units to members of the community that
can afford market rents.
The Ontario Government has
recognized that RGI housing
is limited and that different
people require different levels
of support in order to achieve
housing stability.