https://www.oaeh.ca/news/budget-submission-to-minister-of-finance-and-president-of-the-treasury-board/
Send Letter
Pre-Budget Submission to the Government of Ontario
February 2022
Delivered to:
Hon. Peter Bethlenfalvy
Minister of Finance and President of the Treasury Board
Government of Ontario
Contact:
Kaite Burkholder Harris, Daphna Nussbaum, Jennifer van Gennip
Co-Chairs, Ontario Alliance to End Homelessness
info@oaeh.ca
About OAEH
The Ontario Alliance to End Homelessness (OAEH) is a network of 50+
communities, agencies, and individuals dedicated to preventing and
ending homelessness in Ontario.
Our Issue
Housing affordability is one of the most pressing issues in cities,
towns, and rural areas all across Ontario. There are a number of
compounding factors that have allowed the costs of housing to far
outpace average wages. As an alliance to end homelessness, our focus
lies largely on non-market supply and demand, relied on by those on very
low incomes to meet their human right to housing. This government has
spent millions of dollars providing shelter accommodations throughout
the pandemic. As that funding winds down and shelters return to
pre-pandemic capacity, thousands of individuals and families face life
on the streets without funding and housing units to transition them back
into housing.
The province has the opportunity in this budget to take decisive
steps that can prioritize those who find themselves without a safe,
affordable place to call home. New investments and regulatory reform are
both needed.
Our Recommendations
- Investments in both capital and operations.
Municipalities need increased provincial contributions for affordable
housing development. There is also an ongoing need for the province to
invest in operating grants for affordable housing providers, especially
supportive housing providers.
- Increased social assistance rates. Ontario’s social
assistance programs, including Ontario Works (OW) and the Ontario
Disability Support Program (ODSP), are a targeted solution to poverty in
this province. But when the social assistance rates are out of step
with the costs of living, people remain trapped in poverty with few
choices to better their circumstances. Currently, a single person on OW
receives just $390/month for housing.
- Renewed and expanded rent supplement programs. According to the March 2021 Housing and Homelessness Programs Report from the Financial Accountability Office
(FAO), the province currently only provides rent supplements for
approximately 40% of the households identified as being in core housing
need. The same FAO report shows the provincial portion of all housing
programs averages only 0.3% of the province’s expenditures. Rent
supplements are currently provided through three main funds slated to
end in the next two years.
- Transitional supports from provincial institutions.
Youth aging out of care, patients being discharged from health care
institutions, and people being released from incarceration often end up
homeless or underhoused due to the lack of transition supports.
The under-investment in the housing needs of low-income Ontarians is
contributing to the large increase in the inflow into our homelessness
systems, and severely impacting communities ability to re-house people.
We are all aware that it is
more cost-effective to offer financial support to provide individuals with housing than to house them in shelter beds
so providing deeply affordable housing benefits us all. We are asking
the province to invest in a healthier, more resilient Ontario through
this budget with permanent solutions for those experiencing, or at risk
of experiencing, homelessnes
