Social Housing Unit
This unit of the Shelter, Support and Housing Administration (SSHA) Division is responsible for the funding and administration of social housing programs in the City of Toronto. This includes ensuring housing providers adhere to program requirements, establishing operating policies and providing them with advice and guidance. This unit also ensures that applications for rent-geared-to-income (RGI) assistance in social housing are processed through Housing Connections’ centralized waiting list. Link to “How to Apply”.

Social housing refers to non-profit or co-operative housing communities where some or all the rents are subsidized. Subsidized households pay about 30% of gross income on shelter. Social housing accounts for almost 75% of the SSHA's annual budget.

Social Housing Unit staff administer more than 90,000 units of social housing in Toronto. They ensure, on behalf of taxpayers, that owners are complying with their legislative and contractual requirements. For more information about what we do, please contact us at socialhousing@toronto.ca.

Types of Social Housing Administered by the City of Toronto

• Toronto Community Housing Corporation (TCHC), a non-profit corporation owned by the City of Toronto. TCHC is governed by a Board of Directors appointed by City Council.

• Private non-profit housing owned and operated by community-based non-profit corporations, such as churches, seniors' organizations and ethno-cultural groups.

• Co-operative housing is owned and operated by community-based non-profit co-operative corporations, whose members are residents of the co-operative. Some co-ops (federally sponsored) are administered thorough the Agency for Co-operative Housing.

• Private rent supplement programs, provide Rent-Geared-to-Income (RGI) assistance to households in privately owned or non-profit buildings. The City pays the landlord the difference between RGI rent and the market rent for the unit.

• Housing allowance programs give time limited, fixed amount assistance to households.

In order to be offered a subsidized unit in social housing, you must have an active application on Housing Connections’ centralized waiting list. For Housing Allowance programs, households must be eligible to be on the centralized waiting list, but they do not need to have an active application.

Social housing is "tied in knots"
Everyone agrees: well-funded, well-managed social housing is essential for communities to be socially and economically viable. And although Toronto has done what it can to protect the valuable asset, the social housing stock continues to be at risk. A number of issues are converging to bring us to the breaking point. Read the complete staff report. Get the fast facts: Toronto social housing by the numbers.

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