Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow announced that new applications are being accepted for the Canada-Ontario Housing Benefit (COHB). A one-time top-up of $13.4 million, jointly funded by the City and province, will support approximately 1,350 people to secure housing, helping to relieve pressure on the City’s emergency shelter system. These additional housing benefits will prioritize asylum seekers in addition to other people experiencing homelessness.
Each year, Toronto receives a funding allocation from the province to support the enrollment of new and eligible households in the COHB. The City exhausted its 2023/24 (Year 4) COHB allocation in May 2023, resulting in no new applications being accepted.
Chow says that the City and Province moved quickly to expand the Canada-Ontario Housing Benefit to help asylum seekers and other people experiencing homelessness access secure housing. She is calling on the federal government to do its par.
“This (the $13 million fund) is an example of what different orders of government can do when they work together,” Chow stated. “While this program will make an important difference, the City of Toronto, other cities in the region and community groups are all asking for federal support on a long-term solution. We urge the federal government to step up and join our effort to support asylum seekers and refugee claimants.”
The City’s emergency shelter system currently accommodates approximately 9,000 people nightly – more than 35 per cent of whom are asylum seekers. This infusion of funding into the COHB will help more people access stable housing, and by enabling them to exit the shelter system, will create space for those in need of emergency shelter.
The COHB program, established in 2020 as part of the National Housing Strategy’s Bilateral Agreement with the Province of Ontario, provides households with a portable housing benefit to assist with rental costs in the private housing market. The benefit can be used to help pay rent anywhere in Ontario.
The COHB pays the difference between 30 per cent of the household’s income and the average market rent in the area. In the past, the COHB has seen significant uptake from asylum-seeker households.
