Our congregation urges the provincial government to step up on affordable housing and homelessness.
With Board approval, the Affordable Housing Team submitted a brief to the provincial consultation on the 2024 Ontario budget last week. You can read the full letter here.
The letter elaborated on issues many of you supported in letters signed after our housing service in November:
- Increase provincial capital investments by at least five times. That’s what’s needed just to allow local housing providers to build 600 units of supportive housing units that they could start in the next 18 months. Homelessness can’t be reduced without lots more supportive housing.
- Fund major improvements needed to the Landlord and Tenant Board to allow a full return to live hearings, significantly reduce hearing and decision delays and make the process fairer.
- End or at least cap rent decontrol, which allows landlords to raise rents by any amount when a unit is vacant. Rent decontrol is fueling soaring rents and provides a huge incentive for landlords to find ways to get rid of long-term tenants who pay affordable rents.
- Increase provincial capital investments by at least five times. That’s what’s needed just to allow local housing providers to build 600 units of supportive housing units that they could start in the next 18 months. Homelessness can’t be reduced without lots more supportive housing.