Date issued Effective date
August 16, 2018 Immediately

Applicability to Social Housing programs

The City Guideline is applicable to the programs for which there is an “X” in the table below.

Applicability Program

X

Housing Services Act, Part VII Housing Projects, Market and Rent-Geared-to-Income, Section 78 Housing Providers (formerly 110)
Housing Services Act, Part VII Housing Projects, 100% Rent-Geared-to-Income, Section 78 Housing Providers (formerly 110)
Federal Non-Profit Housing, Section 26/27
Federal Non-Profit Housing, Section 95
Rent Supplement Programs for Sections 26, 27, 95 and New Affordable Housing Providers
Toronto Community Housing Corporation

About City Guidelines

Under the authority of the Housing Services Act, the City of Toronto, Shelter, Support and Housing Administration (SSHA) Division City Guidelines and Rent-Geared-to-Income (RGI) Manual are the authority for housing administration and RGI administration for social housing providers in the City of Toronto.

City Guidelines are the City of Toronto’s mandatory policies and procedures that social housing providers must follow. City Guidelines are most often issued when a Local Rule is established by the City of Toronto, the Rent-Geared-to-Income (RGI) manual is updated, or other relevant legislative changes or operational requirements occur. City Guidelines which impact RGI have been incorporated into the RGI Manual.

Please see www.toronto.ca/socialhousing for more information.

Background

The Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing provides indices for costs and revenues used to calculate subsidies under the Housing Services Act, 2011 (HSA) on an annual basis. These are needed for the calculation of 2019 subsidies. This document provides a summary of these indices.

What you should know about Cost Factors

Cost factors are inflationary factors used to calculate:

  • the indexed Benchmark operating costs within the operating subsidy calculation; and
  • their capital replacement reserve fund allocations.

Housing providers must use the following cost factors when calculating their subsidies for fiscal years beginning in 2019.

Table 1 – 2019 Indices for Benchmark Costs for Mixed Non-Profit Projects

Item Index Description 2019 Index
Administration and maintenance Ontario CPI – All items 2.27%
Insurance Ontario CPI – Homeowner’s home and mortgage insurance sub-index 3.30%
Bad debt Market Rent Index MRI Table
Electricity Ontario CPI – Electricity sub-index -10.91%
Water Ontario CPI – Water sub-index 5.10%
Natural gas Ontario CPI – Natural gas sub-index -2.75%
Oil and other fuel Ontario CPI – Oil and other fuel sub-index 21.22%
Capital reserves Ontario CPI – All items 2.27%

Table 2 – 2019 Indices for Benchmark Revenues for Mixed Non-Profit Projects

Item Index Description 2019 Index
Vacancy loss Market Rent Index See MRI Table 3 below
Non-rental revenue Factor of 1 Factor of 1

What you should know about Market Rent Indices

  • There are different Market Rent Indices (MRI) for each of the rent districts in Toronto.
  • Apartments and townhouses each have separate MRI tables.
  • Housing providers are required to use the correct MRI to calculate your subsidy.
  • There are no MRI for stacked row housing, for any units considered to be stacked row housing, providers should use the apartment MRI.

Table 3 – 2019 Toronto Market Rent Indices (MRI)

Toronto  District Rent District Codes Apartment Average Rent (Row)Townhouse Average Rent
2019 Market Rent Index 2019 Market Rent Index
Toronto Zone 1 – Former City of Toronto (Central) M1A1 1.8 % 1.8 %
Toronto Zone 2 – Former City of Toronto (East) M1A2 1.8 % 1.8 %
Toronto Zone 3 – Former City of Toronto (North) M1A3 1.8 % 1.8 %
Toronto Zone 4 – Former City of Toronto (West) M1A4 1.8 % 1.8 %
Toronto Zone 5 – Etobicoke (South) M1C1 1.8 % 1.8 %
Toronto Zone 6 – Etobicoke (Central) M1C2 1.8 % 1.8 %
Toronto Zone 7 – Etobicoke (North) M1C3 1.8 % 1.8 %
Toronto Zone 8 – York M1F 1.8 % 1.8 %
Toronto Zone 9 – East York M1B 1.8 % -2.1 %
Toronto Zone 10 – Scarborough   (Central) M1E1 1.8 % 1.0 %
Toronto Zone 11 – Scarborough   (North) M1E2 1.4 % 1.8 %
Toronto Zone 12 – Scarborough (East) M1E3 1.8 % 1.8 %
Toronto Zone 13 – North York   (Southeast) M1D1 1.8 % 1.8 %
Toronto Zone 14 – North York   (Northeast) M1D2 1.8 % 1.8 %
Toronto Zone 15 – North York   (Southwest) M1D3 1.8 % 1.8 %
Toronto Zone 16 – North York (North Central) M1D5 1.8 % 1.8 %
Toronto Zone 17 – North York   (Northwest) M1D4 1.8 % 1.8 %

Actions required

Social housing provider RGI administrators (SHPs) must take the following actions:

  1. All Market and Rent-Geared-to-Income, Section 78 Housing Providers must use the indices indicated in Tables 1, 2 and 3 to calculate the indicated cost items and revenues, as well as their operating and RGI subsidies for their fiscal year beginning in 2019.

Questions

If you have any questions, please contact your Housing Consultant or the HSS:

Housing Stability Services
Shelter, Support & Housing Administration
City of Toronto
Metro Hall, 55 John Street, 6th floor
Toronto, ON M5V 3C6
Telephone: 416-392-4126
Email: HSS@toronto.ca
Website: www.toronto.ca/socialhousing