11 / 36
20 1 6 WA I T I NG L I S T S S URV E Y R E POR T
1 1
16.
In ONPHA’s submission to the Update of the Long-Term Affordable Housing Strategy, we recommended that the Province “develop a unique
housing program to provide households eligible for SPP designation with housing and other supports outside of the overburdened social housing wait
list system.” ONPHA,
Building a Stronger Rental Housing System
, 2015, p. 18
An example of this new approach is evident in
the 2016 Ontario budget, where the Province
committed to funding a pilot program that
would give housing benefits to households
fleeing domestic violence. ONPHA has
long-advocated for the development of such
a program to replace the current Special
Priority Policy (SPP) on RGI waiting lists
16
.
Under SPP, households that have experienced
domestic violence are given a priority
designation on their local waiting list, placing
them above chronological applicants. While
this designation is intended to fast-track their
applications, households fleeing domestic
violence still faced an average wait of over nine
months in 2015 before accessing a unit.
The Province’s pilot program will allow
households that are fleeing domestic violence
to move into an affordable home much more
quickly than through the waiting list system. It
will also give participating households greater
choice about the community and type of
rental unit that they want to live in. Depending
on the outcomes of the pilot, this model may
replace the SPP designation all together.
In addition to the pilot, the Ontario
Government has also promised to explore
a framework for an income-based portable
housing benefit for households that have
difficulty affording rents in their communities.
Unlike RGI housing, where a household must