The government is topping up the Canada Housing Benefit, which provides rental support to low-income Canadians, as affordability and the cost of living continue to dominate the political agenda.
Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland told reporters in Ottawa Tuesday the federal government will put an additional $99 million into the program, which supports low-income renters by delivering one-time payments directly to them.
“Housing is a central challenge in Canada right now. It’s a central challenge in people’s lives, and this is especially true for Canadians who are struggling with the high cost of rent,” she said.
“The Canada Housing Benefit was launched in 2020 and has helped many Canadians since then, and today’s announcement means that by 2027-2028, this benefit will have helped make rent more affordable for over 300,000 low-income households.”
It’s unclear how much it will increase individual payments through the rent support. The benefit was last available to applicants between Dec. 12, 2022, to March 31, 2023. It offered one-time payments of $500.
Since its inception in 2022, roughly $402 million worth of payments have been made, and 815,190 applications for the benefit have been received, government data shows.
During the last application period, eligible Canadians had to be born on or before Dec. 1, 2007, had to have a principal residence in Canada on Dec. 1, 2022, had to have an adjusted family net income of $35,000 or less for families, or $20,000 or less for individuals, among other criteria.
Freeland said Tuesday the government wanted to top-up the benefit now, instead of waiting for the budget to be unveiled in the spring.
“The need is great. All of us can see on streets, in parks across the country, people are really cold and really suffering,” she said.
“We need to do what we can to be sure that every Canadian has a roof over their head and warm food, so we’ve been working with cities, with provinces and territories, and we believe that this support is needed right now.”
Emergency winter funding also coming
Freeland also announced that Ottawa is providing $100 million in emergency winter funding to 85 communities across the country.
As announced in December, the funding through the Reaching Home program aims to help shelters to expand their spaces, offer temporary rental assistance, and provide more warming spaces and meals to those who need it most.
Tuesday’s announcements build on last week’s $362.4 million national top-up to the Interim Housing Assistance Program, which aims to provide communities with the resources needed to shelter vulnerable asylum seekers, who come to Canada for protection from violence, war, and persecution.