Housing Allowance Programs and Benefits

A monthly payment is paid directly to low-income households to assist with the cost of rent.

The COHB benefit amount paid to you is based on the difference between 80 per cent of Average Market Rent (AMR) as determined by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) or the Alternate Average Market Rent (AAMR) as approved by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, and 30 percent of the Adjusted Family Net Income (AFNI), divided by 12 for an appropriately sized unit, based on household composition.

You can live in a unit that is smaller or larger than the allowable unit size in Leeds Grenville’s Occupancy Standards, but your COHB benefit will only be calculated according to your “eligible unit size”.

Recipients of Ontario Works and Ontario Disability Support Program benefits receive a shelter allowance as part of their monthly entitlement up to a maximum amount, based on actual shelter costs and household size. If their shelter costs exceed the maximum shelter amount, social assistance recipients are eligible to receive the maximum shelter amount.

The Ontario Works Act, 1997 and the Ontario Disability Support Program Act, 1997 only allow housing benefits to be exempted as income up to the difference between actual shelter costs (i.e. rent, utilities, and insurance) and the maximum shelter allowance payable.

The social assistance shelter allowance will be provided in the normal fashion; however, the COHB benefit will fill the gap between the social assistance shelter allowance and actual shelter costs, up to the maximum COHB amount.

Recipients of Ontario Works or Ontario Disability Support Program benefits are required to contact the ServiceOntario Information Centre to report any changes (increases or decreases) in their shelter costs so that their COHB benefit can be adjusted accordingly.

1. Be a renter household in Leeds Grenville.
2. Not currently be receiving rent-geared-to-income (RGI) assistance, or any other government-funded housing benefit, such as a Housing Allowance benefit. Shelter payments received from Ontario Works or the Ontario Disability Support Program are allowed.
3. You must be removed from the social housing registry waiting list once your COHB benefit is approved.
4. You must be eligible for rent-geared-to-income assistance, which means:

• Each member of your household meets at least one of the following three criteria:
  • is a Canadian citizen, or
  • has made application for status as a permanent resident under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (Canada), or
  • has made a claim for refugee protection under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (Canada), and no removal order has become enforceable against any member of the household under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (Canada).
• No member of household owes arrears to a social housing provider in Ontario.
• No member of the household has been convicted of misrepresenting their income for the purposes of receiving RGI assistance under the Housing Services Act, or a crime under the Criminal Code (Canada) within the last two years.
• Gross household income does not exceed the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville Household Income Limits.
• Household assets must be within the limit per the Asset Limit Policy (HDPOL34) established by the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville.

Reporting In-Year Changes

You must report any changes in personal information as soon as possible to the ServiceOntario Information Centre at 1-888-544-5101.

You must report the following changes:

• You move.
• You start or stop receiving Ontario Works or ODSP benefits.
• You are in receipt of Ontario Works or ODSP benefits and your shelter costs change.
• Your income decreases by 20% or more.
• You have a permanent change in household composition (e.g. someone moves out of your home).

You do not need to report an increase in income during the year.

The Ministry of Finance (MOF) will reassess your benefit for the changes noted above in “Reporting In-year Changes”. Note that your benefit may only be reassessed once in a year for a decrease of at least 20% in your income.

You also will have your benefit reassessed if you or the Service Manager report to ServiceOntario that you are no longer eligible for the COHB benefit. This may happen if you are receiving rent-geared-to-income assistance or another government-funded housing benefit.

To continue to be eligible for the COHB benefit, you must submit a federal income tax return to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) by April 30th each year for the Ministry of Finance (MOF) to re-calculate your monthly benefit.

Households must complete an annual renewal form each Spring and update the MOF of any changes. To continue to be eligible for the program each year, you must:

• Reside in Ontario.
• Be a renter household.
• Not be in receipt of RGI assistance, more than one COHB benefit (only one member in each household may receive the benefit), or any other government-funded housing benefit, such as a Housing Allowance. Shelter payments from Ontario Works or Ontario Disability Support Program are allowed.

If you do not complete and return your annual renewal form by the renewal deadline, it may result in your household no longer being eligible for the COHB Program.

Households who do not qualify to receive a COHB payment, will no longer be eligible under the program after 24 months of not receiving payments.

The following vulnerable individuals and households in housing need will have priority for the COHB program:

• Survivors of domestic violence and human trafficking;
• Persons experiencing or at-risk of homelessness;
• Indigenous persons;
• Seniors;
• People with disabilities; and
• Young Adults leaving care.

This second priority group includes:

• Households living in community housing that are not receiving affordability support (e.g. rent supplements, housing allowances or RGI assistance); and
• Households no longer receiving financial assistance as a result of expiring federal-provincial programs or social housing operating agreements/mortgages.

The third priority group is non-targeted households (i.e. households that are not in the above categories).

Please contact the Social Housing Registry at shr@uclg.on.ca or call 613-342-3840 / 1-800-267-8146, ext. 2450 to receive an application for the COHB Program.

COHB Application – Paper Application

Applicants interested in applying for the Canada-Ontario Housing Benefit (COHB) may complete a paper application or an online application.

Option #1: Paper Application

The paper application is recommended if you:

• Would like assistance in completing the application form.
• Do not have an email address or access to email.
• Do not have individual/separate emails for all income earners in the household.
• Are not interested in receiving your annual review online.

COHB Application – Online Application

You may wish to complete the online application if you:

• Are comfortable completing online forms with minimal assistance.
• Have an email address and have access to your email on an electronic device such as a computer, cell phone or tablet.
• Have individual email addresses for all income earners in your household (required for electronic signature). The email address(es) must be unique for each income earner.
• Have all income earners available to complete electronic signatures within 24 hours of submission of the application. If the electronic signatures are not completed within 24 hours, the application will be rejected and the household will have to re-apply through the Service Manager with a new application.
• Are interested in receiving your annual renewal online (you can revert to paper anytime).

If you are interested in proceeding with an online application you must be prepared to:

• Receive emails (email will be from: PHB-Application-NO-REPLY@Ontario.ca).
• Make note of the deadline to apply.
• Make note of the access code in the email as it is required in order to gain access to the portal.
• Provide your SIN, plus the SIN’s and email address for all other income earners in the household.
• Provide your monthly rent and utilities amounts.
• Provide the amount of the shelter allowance you receive from social assistance (if applicable).
• Provide your banking information for direct deposit.
• Have all other income earners in the household present when you are ready to submit your application; all income earners are required to provide an electronic signature.
• Provide landlord information if you are interested in the COHB being issued directly to your landlord.