2025-26 Canada-Ontario Community Housing Initiative & Ontario Priorities Housing Initiative Investment Plan Approval

Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing

Housing Programs Branch
777 Bay Street, 14th Floor 
Toronto ON M7A 2J3 
Email: tanisha.lewis@ontario.ca

October 22, 2025

Lori Clark
Director, Integrated Social Services
Manitoulin-Sudbury District Services Board
210 Mead Boulevard
Espanola, P5E 1R9

Dear Ms. Lori Clark

Re: Approved Canada-Ontario Community Housing Initiative (COCHI) & Ontario Priorities Housing Initiative (OPHI) Investment Plan

Thank you for submitting your Investment Plan for the Canada-Ontario Community Housing Initiative (COCHI) and the Ontario Priorities Housing Initiative (OPHI) programs for 2025-26. The ministry has completed its review, and I am pleased to approve the Manitoulin Sudbury District Services Board’s Investment Plan.

Based on your Investment Plan, this letter confirms the planned financial commitments for the following program components:

Canada-Ontario Community Housing Initiative (COCHI)

Ontario Priorities Housing Initiative (OPHI)

This letter also commits the Rental Assistance funding for Year 7 (2025-26) for COCHI and OPHI.

For Year 7 (2025-26) financial commitments, transfer payments will be made as follows:

• COCHI New Build & OPHI Rental Housing Components: Project specific payments will be made based on achievement of development milestones as identified in the approved project funding schedule in the Transfer Payment Ontario (TPON) system.
• COCHI Repair Component: Quarterly payments will be made to Service Managers/Indigenous Program Administrators based on the planned quarterly take up outlined in their Investment Plan as well as actual take-up as per project submissions in TPON.
• OPHI Ontario Renovates Component: Quarterly payments will be made to Service Managers/Indigenous Program Administrators based on the planned quarterly take up outlined in their Investment Plan as well as actual take-up as per project submissions in TPON.
• COCHI & OPHI Operating Components: Quarterly payments will be made based on quarterly projected disbursements identified in the Investment Plan.
• OPHI Operating-Housing Allowance Shared Delivery Component: Payments will be made directly to the eligible households by the Ministry of Finance.

Reporting
For 2025-26, SMs will demonstrate meeting their Expansion Target through a monitoring and reporting framework with the following reporting requirements:

• A Unit Expansion Target Forecast Report (submitted with your Investment Plan),
• A Mid-Year Expansion Target Results and Forecast Report and,
• A Year-End Expansion Target Results Report (submitted with your Year-End Report in May of the following fiscal year).

The next quarterly Investment Plan update and the Mid-Year Expansion Target Results and Forecast Report will be due on October 31st, 2025. Updates will include the Manitoulin Sudbury District Services Board’s actual spending against projected disbursements and a revised forecast.
 
Other important program reporting dates to be aware of include the following key deadlines:

*Please refer to program guidelines for a complete list of program reporting dates.

The ministry will review Service Managers/Indigenous Program Administrators’ Investment Plan updates in the third quarter of each fiscal year to determine if annual funding targets and NHS rent assisted unit expansion targets (for Service Managers only) will be met or if re¬allocation is required. Any funding that is not committed by the deadlines in the program guidelines may be re-allocated.

COCHI Communications Requirement

As per the Program Guidelines, Service Managers/Indigenous Program Administrators are required to inform the recipients of COCHI funding that the program is administered by the provincial government and is cost shared between the federal and municipal governments.
 
For the operating component (e.g., rent supplements), the requirement can be met through written notices to recipients (e.g., initial Eligibility Letter or Subsidy Renewal Letter), which must include the specific wording below about federal, provincial, and municipal contributions under the National Housing Strategy (NHS).

Your rent supplement subsidy is cost-shared between the federal and municipal governments and is administered by the provincial government through the Canada-Ontario Community Housing Initiative (COCHI) under the National Housing Strategy (NHS).

For COCHI New Build projects that are required to have an Ontario Builds sign, the COCHI Communication protocol is considered met when the Ontario Builds signage requirements are followed in full.

For COCHI capital projects that are not eligible for Ontario Builds Signage, the COCHI Communication protocol can be met by ensuring the following wording is included in appropriate documentation (e.g. letters of agreement, funding approval letters, or contribution agreements with the recipient):

The project is funded through the Canada-Ontario Community Housing Initiative (COCHI) administered by the provincial government under the National Housing Strategy (NHS) and is cost- shared between the federal and municipal governments.

A Communication Protocol Attestation Report confirming this activity is now required to be submitted by Service Managers and Indigenous Program Administrators at year-end, through the Year-End report.

If you have any questions or require additional information, please contact your respective Municipal Services Office Housing Team Lead/Housing Programs Branch Account Manager.

I appreciate your commitment to increasing the supply of much needed community housing in your service area and look forward to our continued partnership in delivering the COCHI and OPHI housing programs.

Yours sincerely,
 

Tanisha Lewis
Director
Housing Programs Branch

c:  Simon Chan, Manager, Housing Programs Branch
     Cindy Couillard, Team Lead, Regional Housing Services, MSO – Northeast
     Jennifer Dillon, Account Manager, Housing Programs Branch