The Ontario housing crisis has had a lasting impact on every community in the Province, big and small.
Employers have been struggling to recruit employees that can afford to live in local communities.
Ontario is the only province in Canada where municipal levels of government are responsible for providing community housing as opposed to other provinces who provide housing programs that are fully funded by the provincial or territorial governments with support from federal funding agencies. This is where Service Managers come in.
Service Managers have been responsible for the administration, planning, and have been the primary funder of community housing and housing initiatives in their local community. These programs are provided through 47 regional governments, counties, cities, and/or District Social Services Administration Boards (DSSABs). These bodies are collectively referred to as Service Managers. These contributions from Service Managers total more than $1.77 billion in local funding annually. Service Managers understand and recognize housing as a human right and are working to support households to access and maintain housing.
Service Managers are key stakeholders that are critical to the development of affordable rental development. There are several recommendations in three key areas that will facilitate the creation, success, and long-term sustainability of affordable rental development to assist Service Managers in this important role: funding, program/process improvement, and education/awareness building.
As a key funder in the community (social) housing sector in Ontario, Service Managers are committed to continuous learning and engagement across the sector to implement best practices and share knowledge amongst each other. As many features exist which make us different from one another, there are just as many unifying features that demonstrate our shared successes, priorities and challenges. In the development of this paper, the MSRD Technical Table shared similar experiences, learned from one another and identified shared areas of growth that Service Managers should consider continuing implementing local and shared visions of improved community (social) housing systems.
The implementation of the recommendations made will require commitment from all levels of government including federal, provincial, municipal and Service Managers. The HSSC will lead the path in determining appropriate prioritization of recommendations and support the ongoing advocacy for foundational recommendations and communication channels with all orders of government. Members of the Technical Table will be available for presentations on the findings and recommendations as required.
(Written by Luke Notman)
