Shelter maximum versus a 1-bedroom

CMHC’s average market rent is what sitting tenants in purpose-built stock pay. Asking rent on listings is what a person who needs a unit this month is quoted. Both series sit above the statutory shelter cap in every large Ontario market on this page.

Interactive gap

Program

Monthly rent: $1,900

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CMHC average 1-bedroom, by service manager

Figures are 2024 CMHC purpose-built averages as published in the Ontario Aboriginal Housing Services 2025 Allowable Rent schedule (Schedule 8). They describe occupied stock. A vacant unit offered this month is usually higher.

Area	CMHC AMR, 1-bed	vs OW cap $390	vs ODSP cap $611	Left from ODSP basic needs
Toronto	$1,985	−$1,595	−$1,374	$-549
Ottawa	$1,896	−$1,506	−$1,285	$-460
Peel	$1,939	−$1,549	−$1,328	$-503
York	$1,908	−$1,518	−$1,297	$-472
Halton	$2,064	−$1,674	−$1,453	$-628
Durham	$1,672	−$1,282	−$1,061	$-236
Hamilton	$1,516	−$1,126	−$905	$-80
Kingston	$1,680	−$1,290	−$1,069	$-244
Niagara	$1,473	−$1,083	−$862	$-37
Ontario	$1,541	−$1,151	−$930	$-105

“Left from ODSP basic needs” = $825 minus the portion of rent that exceeds the $611 shelter maximum. A negative number means the rent alone exceeds the entire ODSP cheque.

Asking rent — the vacant unit

Series	1-bedroom
GTA listings (liv.rent 2025)	$2,050
Ottawa listings (Zumper Jun 2026)	$1,900
Ontario 1-bed listings (liv.rent)	$1,888

Ontario’s Residential Tenancies Act limits annual guideline increases on existing tenancies. CMHC averages are pulled down by long-staying tenants. A person entering the market pays the listing price.

Toronto worked example

CMHC 1-bed average $1,985. ODSP single maximum $1,436.

−$549

The cheque is $549 short of average rent before a grocery bill is opened. Ontario Works at $733 is $1,252 short of the same unit.

RGI rent on a $1,436 ODSP cheque, at 30% of income, would be about $431 — inside the shelter cap. The constraint is not the RGI formula. It is the queue.