
Ontario is in the midst of an affordable housing crisis, which has become increasingly widespread over the past five decades. Much of this crisis is a result of reduced government investment in affordable housing. Many lower income individuals have been bearing the brunt of the crisis, paying unaffordable rents and having little left to save for a rainy day or to pay down their debts. In the past two years, the affordable housing crisis has been further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic putting more pressure on lower income households to make ends meet.
This timeline provides an overview of some of the key housing issues faced by communities across Ontario and how governments have responded to these issues over the past 50 years, including a detailed look at how the pandemic has exacerbated existing issues. It shows that, as investments in affordable housing have dwindled, housing insecurity has grown – especially among the most vulnerable communities.
Given the complexity of the crisis, this timeline is not an exhaustive representation of the many challenges experienced by different communities, nor of all the ways that governments have responded in the face of these challenges. Instead, this timeline is meant to provide an overview of some of the key housing issues that have shaped housing outcomes for Ontarians.
1970s – The height of affordable housing investments
- During the 1970s, governments became increasingly involved in the housing sector. The Fraser Institute noted that housing policy was used as a vehicle for income redistribution, and governments began to acknowledge that housing is a fundamental right. In 1973, the then federal Minister of Urban Affairs stated that the government had “adopted the basic principle that [housing] is the fundamental right of Canadians, regardless of their economic circumstances, to enjoy adequate shelter at a reasonable cost.” The following year, the Ontario Ministry of Housing also acknowledged that adequate and affordable housing is a basic right for all.
- This decade saw the introduction of a number of important affordable housing policies and protections by the Government of Canada and the Government of Ontario. These governments introduced subsidized housing for low-income households, financial assistance for renters and cash grants for homebuyers, and adopted rent control policies and amendments to the Landlord and Tenant Act.
1980s – The cutbacks begin
- The Government of Ontario began playing a leading role in managing and funding social housing in the province. Federal investments began to decline during this period. However, the majority of federal investments that remained were directed to subsidize housing for households in core housing need.
- Housing co-operatives – which saw a boom during the 1970s – also continued to grow during this period.
1990s – Cutbacks become more drastic
- The federal government ended its co-operative housing program in its 1992 budget, after building nearly 60,000 affordable homes for low- and moderate-income households, and froze investments in social housing the following year.
- In 1995, the federal government stopped funding the development of affordable housing for the first time in 50 years. From that year until 2002, almost no new non-profit housing units were created.
- In 1998, Ontario’s Tenant Protection Act was passed, which eliminated rent controls on vacant units.
- In 1999, the federal government shifted the responsibility of administering and funding social housing to provincial governments. In Ontario, this was done through the signing of the Canada-Ontario Social Housing Agreement.
- Because of these cutbacks, 17,000 non-profit and co-operative housing units that had been slated for construction were cancelled.
2000s – A devolution of responsibility
- The Government of Ontario devolved the responsibility for funding and administering existing social housing to municipal service managers, but retained responsibility for supportive housing.
- Municipal service managers introduced and funded their own housing programs which included rent supplements, housing allowances, and funding for new developments and capital repairs.
- In 2007, Ontario’s Residential Tenancies Act took effect, replacing the Tenant Protection Act, and maintaining vacancy decontrol.
- In 2009, the Ontario government made the Rent Bank program permanent with a renewed commitment of $5 million.
2010s – The crisis deepens, but housing commitments begin to emerge
- Throughout this decade, the number of affordable housing units in Ontario decreased, while the number of luxury condos with higher rents increased, resulting in the further decrease of Ontario’s affordable housing stock.
- In 2011, the Ontario government passed the Housing Services Act which set the policy direction for the province and provided service managers with more control over the administration and provision of social housing and homelessness services.
- Meanwhile, the federal and provincial governments made small investments in social housing through the Investments in Affordable Housing (IAH) program and the Community Homelessness Prevention Initiative (CHPI).
- After years of housing advocacy across Canada, the federal government launched its National Housing Strategy (NHS) in 2017. The NHS is a 10-year plan that initially invested $40 billion into various housing initiatives, with most of the funds earmarked to be spent in later years.
- In 2017, the Ontario Liberal government introduced a policy to extend rent control to all units, scrapping the rent control exemption for units built after 1991. The following year, the newly elected Ontario Progressive Conservative government introduced a new rent control exemption on units first occupied for residential purposes after November 15, 2018.
- As calls for a commitment to the right to housing grew in Canada, the federal government passed the National Housing Strategy Act in July 2019, which recognizes the right to housing (including affordable housing) as a human right in domestic legislation. The Act created mechanisms such as the Federal Housing Advocate and the National Housing Council to monitor the government’s implementation of the right to housing through its funding commitments.
- In April 2019, the Ontario government released its Community Housing Renewal Strategy to repair, sustain and grow the community housing sector.
- In December 2019, the City of Toronto became the first municipality to recognize housing as a human right in its updated Toronto Charter and its ten-year housing plan, HousingTO 2020-2030 Action Plan.
- In December 2019, the Government of Canada and the Government of Ontario signed the Canada – Ontario Housing Benefit, a bilateral agreement to invest jointly to provide a portable housing benefit to support Ontarians in housing need.
2020s – Crisis upon a crisis in the pandemic era
March 2020
- The COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns began in March 2020. Advocates began to push for an eviction ban as renters lost their jobs and income. In response, on March 17, the Ontario government announced an eviction moratorium in the province which halted new eviction notices from being served – except in certain safety-related circumstances – and postponed the enforcement of scheduled evictions until further notice.
April 2020
- Data emerged showing that women were bearing the brunt of the impacts of the pandemic, as their job losses accounted for more than twice the number of losses experienced by men. Nearly half of jobs lost by women were part-time and low-paid roles.
- The federal government announced it would provide temporary rent relief for “small business tenants”, however it did not provide rent relief for residential tenants.
- Encampments began to emerge in cities across Ontario as many people experiencing homelessness chose to sleep outdoors due to fears of contracting the virus in overcrowded shelter spaces and social distancing requirements in shelters significantly reducing capacity.
July 2020
- The Ontario government passed Bill 184 which made several amendments to the Residential Tenancies Act that made evictions easier for landlords to obtain in some circumstances.
August 2020
- The eviction moratorium was lifted on August 4, 2020 and the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) received thousands of eviction requests as it began to hear cases again and moved its processes online for the first time.
- Equity-seeking communities faced disproportionate rates of evictions, showing the intersection of race, poverty, and status on people’s housing outcomes.
September 2020
- The Ontario government introduced legislation to freeze rent increases for one year, starting January 1, 2021.
October 2020
- The federal government launched the Rapid Housing Initiative as part of the government’s National Housing Strategy (NHS) and pandemic response, an initiative that dedicated $1 billion to create up to 3,000 new affordable homes across the country for residents in the greatest need.
December 2020
- As LTB hearings resumed, numerous complaints emerged of tenants facing technical issues connecting to their online hearings, or missing notices that their hearing was taking place.
2021
January 2021
- On January 13, the Ontario government announced a temporary pause on the enforcement of evictions as a state of emergency was declared throughout the province.
February 2021
- In consultation with over 120 housing advocates and people with lived experience of homelessness from across Canada, CERA and the National Right to Housing Network (NRHN) submitted a proposal to the federal government for a Residential Tenant Support Benefit to address the evictions and arrears crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
September 2021
- The federal government faced criticism for the types of housing investments they were making, due to some programs creating unaffordable rental housing.
December 2021
- Tenant advocacy groups continued to raise concerns about the negative impacts of the LTB’s online hearings on tenants.
- The Ontario Federation of Indigenous Friendship Centres encouraged Ontario policymakers to adopt an Indigenous lens to address the housing crisis, by reimagining housing through a holistic understanding of prosperity, belonging, well-being and reciprocal relationships.
- In response to the COVID-19 crisis in long-term care homes, the Government of Ontario passed Bill 37, Providing More Care, Protecting Seniors, and Building More Beds Act which introduced some new protections for residents of long-term care homes. However, advocates criticized the Bill for failing to address key recommendations from Ontario’s Long-Term Care COVID-19 Commission report.
2022
January 2022
- As the one-year provincial rent freeze came to an end on January 1st, 2022, advocates called on the government to increase Ontario Works and Ontario Disability Support Program payments, to reinstate a pause on evictions and provide rent relief as other pandemic emergency benefits had been cut.
- The Ontario government met with municipalities to discuss ways to address the growing housing crisis, emphasizing its position that increasing the supply of all types of housing will help to address housing need.
February 2022
- Ontario’s Housing Affordability Task Force released a report with recommendations about how to best combat the province’s housing affordability crisis, focusing on increasing the supply of market housing. Several groups pointed out that simply increasing supply will not address affordability issues. CERA highlighted that Ontario’s strategy should also focus on creating and preserving deeply affordable housing, and ensure that the province’s diverse communities are engaged in the development of housing solutions that meet their needs.
March 2022
- First Nations communities in northern Ontario struggled with the strongest wave of COVID-19 their communities had experienced since the start of the pandemic, which was exacerbated by long-standing issues related to inadequate housing.
April 2022
- In response to Canada’s troubling record in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic in long-term care homes, CERA delivered a submission to the United Nations Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons, outlining the ways that ongoing systemic issues in long-term care homes present barriers to realizing the right to adequate housing of older persons.
- Housing was among the top areas of investment in the 2022 federal budget, with an expansion of the Rapid Housing Initiative as well as the introduction of the Housing Accelerator Fund. The budget fell short in responding to the urgent housing needs of those most impacted by the housing affordability and homelessness crisis.
- The 2022 federal budget signaled a renewed commitment to cooperative housing programs through the allocation of $500 million in funding and $1 billion in loans to a new Co-operative Housing Development Program.