EH · Housing First
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Field tools

Calculators that expose the structural gap between social assistance and actual housing costs. Numbers are for advocacy and case planning — not legal advice. Confirm current rates with the local office before quoting them in a filing.

Rent-gap calculator

OW maximum shelter for a single adult is about $390. That is the structural reason letters must raise the shelter portion, not only “create awareness.”

Illustrative 2025 maxima

OW single total ≈ $733 (shelter 390 + basic 343).

ODSP single total ≈ $1369 (shelter 582 + basic 787).

The Canada Disability Benefit does not close this gap at current scale. A fully subsidized RGI unit is the only reliable fix.

Cost of living vs assistance

Illustrative monthly budget for a single adult in a major Ontario city. Adjust lines to match local reality. This is not a poverty-line study — it is a field tool to show why $390 shelter cannot work.

Why this matters

When the entire cheque is less than market rent, every other necessity becomes a crisis. People ration food, skip transit, share phones, or stay in unsafe relationships because the income system was never designed as a housing benefit.

Housing First starts with a door that locks and a rent people can actually pay. Optional supports come after the keys — not as a condition for them.

Letter: raise benefits + RGI

Affordability check

Standard affordability benchmark is rent ≤ 30% of income. Anything above is cost-burdened; above 50% is severe. Social assistance rates fail this test in every major Ontario market.

Quick reference — approximate one-bedroom markets

  • Toronto: ≈ $2450
  • Ottawa: ≈ $1900
  • Hamilton: ≈ $1750
  • London: ≈ $1650
  • Windsor: ≈ $1450
  • Peel / Mississauga: ≈ $2200

Against OW shelter $390 or ODSP shelter $582, none of these are leasable without a massive private top-up that most people do not have.

Scale the Housing First ask

Translate the FAO trajectory into a concrete demand. Defaults match the $1.2B / 75,000-home framing used in the letter builder.

Non-negotiables

  • Housing is the starting point, not a reward for compliance.
  • Supports are optional. Refusing treatment must not end the tenancy.
  • Encampment response means permanent housing with choice — not sweeps and warehouses.
  • By-Name Lists need real investment, not just better counting of people still on the street.

Open letter builder Housing First brief

Delay is a choice. Forced treatment is not housing. A fully subsidized RGI unit with optional wraparound supports is the minimum that matches what governments already claimed to accept.