Social Housing (Rent Geared to Income) Program

Social Housing is rental housing developed with the assistance of government and subsidized by the government. It is available for people with low to moderate incomes, seniors, or people with special needs who can live, with supports, in the community.

As Service Manager the Social Housing Division is accountable for the administration of 11 publicly-funded Housing Providers. The day to day management of these projects however, remains with the individual Providers and their respective Boards.

Subsidies are based on the tenants' ability to pay, with rents calculated at approximately 30% of gross monthly household income up to market rent. This is known as Rent Geared To Income. The amount of rent paid by Ontario Works/Ontario Disability Support Program recipients is determined by a scale provided by Ontario's Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing in accordance with the Housing Services Act, 2011.

The Division also administers Social Housing Centralized Waitlist. If you are eligible, you will be placed on the waitlist. Most people need to find their own rental housing in the private market while they are on the wait list as it can be a long wait.

Do I qualify?

At least one member of the household must be 16 years of age or older and able to live independently.
Each household member must be a Canadian Citizen; or have made an application for status as permanent resident; or a claim for refugee protection; and must not have an enforceable removal order under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (Canada).
Arrears to any Social Housing Provider must be paid in full or there must be an active repayment agreement plan in place and in good standing.
No household member will have been convicted of an offence related to rent geared-to-income assistance.
No household member will have been found by a court of law or the Landlord and Tenant Board to have misrepresented their income for the purpose of rent geared-to-income assistance.
No household will have assets that exceed $50,000 for a single person or $75,000 for a household of two or more people.
No household will have income that exceeds the Household Income Limits.

Household Income Limit:

1 bedroom: $42,000
2 bedrooms: $49,500
3 bedrooms: $53,500
4 bedrooms: $62,500
Income limits are updated periodically in accordance with changes to the household income limits set out in Schedule 2 of Ontario Regulation 370/11 and the average market rents for the City of Cornwall and the Counties of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry.

How can I apply?

Applicants must fill out an application form and provide ALL the necessary documents.

All sections of the applications must be completed and submitted with the required documents.
Please read and make sure the Consent, Release and Declaration form is understood before signing the application form. The application form must be signed by all applicants 16 years of age and older and all other non-dependent members of the household, or a person authorized to sign on behalf of the member if applicable.
Applicant(s) will receive written confirmation that the application has been processed with a list of approved buildings.

Social Housing Application Form

Medical Form

The Registry - Housing Access Centre
340 Pitt Street
Cornwall, ON K6J 3P9

Phone: 613-933-6282

Fax: 613-938-9734

Email: humanservices@cornwall.ca.

If you do not have access to the internet or a computer, you can obtain paper applications at the reception desk located at 340 Pitt Street, 4th floor, Cornwall, ON.

Additional Information:

Any changes to an applicant's information must be reported to the Registry as soon as they occur. This ensures that applicants can be contacted at all times as a file will be cancelled if the Registry is unable to contact the applicant at the phone numbers and/or address provided on the application form.
The Registry will contact you by mail at least once a year for an update. The applicant's name will be removed from the wait list if a response is not received by the date required.
The process for selecting households is based on the date the application was submitted.
A member of the household who owns a home must agree to sell it within six (6) months of being housed.
Market Rent is based on typical rent charges in the private sector for a comparable size unit in the community. Housing Providers that have market rent units keep a separate waiting list. Please contact them directly.
If you are applying for a modified unit, please contact the individual Housing Provider to obtain specific details as the accessibility features may vary from one Housing Provider to another.

Housing Offer:

Approved applicants are entitled to ONE (1) housing offer; therefore, carefully consider your options when making your housing selection. If the offer is refused, the file will be cancelled. Failure to respond to a housing offer shall be considered a refusal.

Special Priority for Victims of Abuse

You may be moved to a higher place on the centralized waiting list if you are currently living with someone who is abusing you, or you have recently stopped living with someone (in the last 3 months) who was abusing you. You may also qualify for special priority if you are a victim of human king. Those individuals who are currently being ked or those who have exited king within 3 months are eligible to apply for SPP.

This is called Special Priority status.

For the purposes of Special Priority, abuse means:
One or more incidents of: physical or sexual violence, controlling behaviour, or intentional
destruction of or intentional injury to property, or words, actions or gestures that threaten an individual or lead an individual to fear for his or her safety or king of the member done by any individual.

For the purposes of Special Priority, the abuser must be:

The abused person’s spouse, parent, child, or other relative, OR
The abused person’s immigration sponsor, OR
A person on whom the abused is emotionally, physically or financially dependent.

If the definition above applies to your current situation, please see the Special Priority Application Form. This form must accompany the social housing application.

Social Housing Local Rules

Notice: Regulatory Changes - Waitlist

In accordance with the new regulatory changes, a household will now only be allotted one (1) refusal of an offer before becoming ineligible for the waiting list and/or rent geared to income (RGI) subsidy.

NOTE: this rule is effective:

January 1^st, 2020

for all applicants added to the waitlist or an internal transfer list after this date.

January 1^st, 2021 (or sooner)

for anyone that was already on the waitlist or an internal transfer prior to January 1^st, 2020. The new rule applies to these individuals when one of the following occurs (whichever occurs first):

at annual update
after their next refusal
or when the client makes changes in year

For more information on this regulatory change please refer to Local Rule #14-2015 Refusals of Offer or you can visit the Province of Ontario's website.

Click on any of the links below to access the appropriate Local Rule: