| Community Housing | Effective Date: April 1, 2023 |
| Topic: Tenant Policies | Replaces: July 1, 2021 |
| Subject: Centralized Waiting List and Tenant Selection | Policy No. I.2.3. |
The Manitoulin-Sudbury DSB wishes to embrace the new Long-Term Affordable Housing Strategy and begin the transition of our housing portfolio in order to better suit the needs of our communities in order to create a more vibrant mixed-income community and ensure the viability of our assets.
The Housing Services Act (HSA) stipulates that a Service Manager shall establish and administer a centralized waiting list for the service area.
Additionally, as part of the Act, flexibility in some areas is granted to Service Managers to create local rules which will enhance and support their communities’ housing needs.
The Manitoulin-Sudbury DSB embraces this concept and wishes to establish local priorities for waiting applicants, and to embrace recent changes to the Long-Term Affordable Housing Strategy (LTAHS) that is making a commitment to modernize Ontario’s Community Housing Programs into a more people-centered, outcomes-focused and sustainable approach to housing for Ontario Families.
As of July 1, 2016, the Housing Services Act has been amended to remove the requirement for public housing projects to have as many RGI units as possible.
The DSB will establish the following priorities, in the following order when ranking applicants on the Community Housing waiting list:
Great care will be taken to ensure that Service Level Standards as guided by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing are maintained. These standards are currently being exceeded with the adoption of the Direct Shelter Subsidy Program.
Consideration will be given to the waiting list at the time the vacancy occurs to ensure that the ratio is conducive to the community needs and to determine the best mix for the building based on the existing waiting list in order to create a more vibrant mixed-income community.
The Manitoulin-Sudbury DSB maintains the Service Level Standards as prescribed in the Housing Services Act.
The DSB will use the High Need Household Chart as determined in the procedure to calculate Market Rent values with the exception of new acquisitions or construction.
To ensure community needs are met, a thorough examination of the waitlist will occur in order to create a more vibrant mixed-income community based on local needs. The units will be filled with rent geared-to-income applicants, affordable applicants and market renters. For example, if the waiting list contains a majority of RGI applicants, then vacancy will be filled with more RGI applicants. Similarly, if a majority of applicants are deemed as affordable applicants, the vacancies will be filled with more affordable applicants.
All applications for RGI assistance are submitted to the DSB, and when deemed to be complete, are added to the central waiting list.
To establish priority, households applying for housing will be provided a score based on a matrix ranking system that will place the households in order of priority.
This category is for victims of domestic/family abuse and has some provincially defined rules.
This category has been established for situations where persons are deemed homeless through circumstances beyond their control. There are no provincially defined rules.
A household considered to be homeless would include a household without shelter or living in temporary/emergency housing due to circumstances such as:
A senior is defined as someone who is 65 years or older.
All other applicants will be ranked on the waiting list based on their income and assets. For applicants with the exact same ranking score, the date of application will be used to determine priority on the wait list where no other special priority ranking exists.
Applications for Housing Providers are received and processed in the same fashion as any other application for housing and are then added to the Centralized Waiting List. Applicants who are applying for the Non-Profit Buildings in Espanola, Little Current and Gore Bay will be given the option to be placed on the waiting list for the non-profit housing building ONLY or all buildings in the community.
The Manitoulin-Sudbury DSB will provide each Housing Provider with the next eligible applicant on the waiting list when an RGI or Affordable unit becomes available in the Non-Profit provider building. Non-Profit Providers will be responsible to advise the DSB as soon as they know of a vacancy in order to prevent any vacancy loss. The Non-Profit Housing Providers will maintain their own waiting list for market rent applicants.
Applicants are advised that, while on the waiting list, they must notify the DSB in writing, of any changes to the information they have provided on the application form, within thirty (30) business days of the change.
Applicants are responsible to advise of any changes to their income or household information. If extenuating circumstances exist, the Service Manager may use discretion when rendering a decision related to eligibility or allow the applicant a longer period to provide such information.
A system has been designed to assist with the ranking of individuals applying for housing that applies the ranking based on the screening questions embedded within the revised housing screening application.
All applicants will be required to submit current income and asset information at the time an offer is made to ensure that the information is current and correct. At this time, the file will be checked to ensure that outstanding arrears have not presented since the time of application as this affects the applicant’s eligibility to receive rent subsidy.
Additionally, waiting applicants may be reviewed for other programs, such as the Direct Shelter Subsidy Program, that may assist with affordability of housing costs. This will decrease the number of people who are on the waitlist and will provide them with a portable housing benefit where they are currently living. The DSB aims to move towards a more coordinated, effective system that better matches people with housing needs to an appropriate form of assistance.
Pro-rated rent is calculated by dividing the full monthly rental amount by the number of days in the month and multiplying the result by the move in date.
Example:
Rent is $122.00 starting September 1
Tenant wants to move in on the 20, of August
Divide $122 by 31 days = 3.935
Multiply 3.935 x 12 days (31 days in month- 19 days past) Rent from August 20 – 31 = $47.22 rounded to $47.00
Applicants will be offered housing or Direct Shelter Subsidy by the DSB in accordance with their ranking on the appropriate waiting list.
The new waitlist system will re-rank the applicant at each refusal. An applicant refusal will result in an adjustment of ranking to the application that will result in applicants not receiving consecutive offers. The number of refusals will not be limited to three however each refusal will result in a re-ranking of the applicant on the waiting list.
The Director of Integrated Social Services for the Manitoulin-Sudbury DSB will have the ability to make decisions based on exceptional circumstances.
The December 2015 High Need Household Chart for the Manitoulin-Sudbury DSB are as follows:
| Bachelor | 1-bedroom | 2-bedroom | 3-bedroom | 4 + bedroom |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $32,100 | $37,500 | $40,800 | $44,100 | $54,000 |
Until further notice, the DSB will use the December 2015 High Need Households to determine eligibility.
Service Levels Standards
| Households | High Need | Modified Units |
|---|---|---|
| 323 | 186 | 14 |
The DSB’s Market rent is based on the 2015 High Need Household Chart listed as “Schedule 1 High Needs Households (Section 1)” dated Dec 2, 2015 of Ontario Regulation 370/11 under the Housing Services Act 2011 subsection 40(4) shown below.
HIGH NEEDS HOUSEHOLDS AND HOUSEHOLD INCOME LIMITS — SUBSECTION 40 (4) OF THE ACT
Historical version for the period December 2, 2015 to December 31, 2015.
Last amendment: O. Reg. 375/15.
High needs household criteria, s. 40 (4) of the Act
1. (1) The criteria in subsection (2) is prescribed for the purposes of the definition of “high needs household” in subsection 40 (4) of the Act. O. Reg. 370/11, s. 1 (1).
(2) To be a high needs household, the annual income for a household must be less than or equal to the maximum annual household income set out in Schedule 1 for the size of unit the household occupies and the area where the unit is located. O. Reg. 370/11, s. 1 (2).
Household income limit, s. 40 (4) of the Act
2. (1) The household income limit under subsection (2) is prescribed for the purposes of the definition of “household income limit” in subsection 40 (4) of the Act. O. Reg. 370/11, s. 2 (1).
(2) The household income limit for a household is the annual household income limit set out in Schedule 2 for the size of unit the household occupies and the area where the unit is located. O. Reg. 370/11, s. 2 (2).
3. Omitted (provides for coming into force of provisions of this Regulation). O. Reg. 370/11, s. 3.
SCHEDULE 1
HIGH NEEDS HOUSEHOLDS (SECTION 1)
| Item |
Column 1 Service Manager
|
Column 2 Area
|
Column 3 Maximum annual household income Bachelor unit
|
Column 4 Maximum annual income 1-bedroom unit |
Column 5 Maximum annual income 2-bedroom unit |
Column 6 Maximum annual income 3-bedroom unit
|
Column 7 Maximum annual income 4-bedroom unit or larger
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 56 | Manitoulin-Sudbury District Services Board | Whole Service Area | $32,100 | $37,500 | $40,800 | $44,100 | $54,000 |
This policy will not automatically follow changes to the High Need Household Chart listed in the regulation however DSB Staff will review all subsequent changes to the regulation to determine whether this policy and procedure needs to be updated.
Rent-Geared-to-Income is based on 30% of gross household income, plus or minus any utility charges.
Affordable Housing is based on 80% of DSB market rent. These rents will include heat, hydro and water.
| Unit Size | Annual Household Income | Market Rents | Affordable Rents |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor Unit | $32,100 | $805 | $644 |
| 1-Bedroom | $37,500 | $940 | $752 |
| 2-Bedroom | $40,800 | $1,025 | $820 |
| 3-Bedroom | $44,100 | $1,105 | $884 |
| 4-Bedroom | $54,000 | $1,355 | $1.084 |
Effective January 1, 2023, the Manitoulin-Sudbury DSB will use the chart below to determine Market Rent amounts for new Community Housing construction or acquisitions.
| Unit Size | Annual Household Income | Market Rents | Affordable Rents |
| 1-Bedroom | $54,000 | $1350 | $1080 |
| 2-Bedroom | $68,000 | $1700 | $1360 |
Please refer to Ontario Works Policy #10.3 – Direct Shelter Subsidy