On April 20, 2005, the federal and
provincial governments signed a new Canada-Ontario Affordable
Housing Agreement. Under this commitment, the federal,
provincial and municipal governments will invest at least $734
million through the Canada Affordable Housing Program (AHP).
In total, the program will help 20,000
Ontario
households by 2010.
The AHP is comprised of four components: Rental and
Supportive, Rent Supplement/Housing Allowance, Northern
Housing and Homeownership. The DTSSAB will be
participating in two of these four programs.
Rent Supplement/Housing Allowance Program
The Rent Supplement/Housing Allowance Program is a
component of the Affordable Housing Program.
The Program was developed as an exceptional, interim measure
to enable Service Managers to respond immediately to requests
by low-income households for affordable housing by creating
affordable rental housing in rental markets with high vacancy
rates. A “housing allowance” is a supplement paid to
the landlord on behalf of households in need of rental
assistance. It is meant to help bridge the difference
between the rent that a household can afford to pay and the
actual market rent.
The DTSSAB has been allotted 10 units and a total of $72,000
of funding for this program. The average Housing
Allowance per month for DTSSAB is $120.00.
Estimated start-up for this program is Spring 2007.
Northern Component
The Canada-Ontario Affordable Housing Program also has a
Northern Housing Component with funding available to 10
Northern Ontario Service Managers. The DTSSAB was
granted an allocation of 40 units and $800,000.
Timiskaming District will dedicate a minimum of 5 units to
families who have limited mobility issues, and requiring
housing designed to accommodate mobility restrictions.
The Northern Housing Component of the Affordable Housing
Program was developed to assist low to moderate-income
homeowners to repair existing residences.
The objectives of the
program are to:
- encourage the repair of
modest and affordable ownership housing that is in danger
of being lost from the housing stock in
Northern Ontario
;
- repair
or rehabilitate dwellings to a minimum level of health,
safety and building standards; and
- assist
low income households requiring limited mobility
modifications to upgrade/renovate dwellings to
accommodate/improve accessibility
This will be accomplished by
providing on average, loans of up to $20,000 per unit for the
repair and rehabilitation of homes owned by low-income
households. Loan forgiveness may be earned at 8% per
year for the first 10 years and 2% per year for the remaining
10 years.
The program is set with parameters to meet an income target
group. This program will target low-income individuals
and families who have an income below the set Household Income
Limits.
We are anticipating this program to become available Summer
2007. |
