(e.g., housing allowance under the Investment in Affordable Housing program) at the same time, with the exception of social assistance shelter payments.
Service Managers may provide Community Homelessness Prevention Initiative funding to recipients of the COHB program who need emergency assistance, since that assistance is not intended to be ongoing.
A household receiving a COHB benefit may reside in a unit that received assistance under a government program (e.g., the Canada-Ontario Affordable Housing Program), where that assistance was attached to the unit and not the household members.
All eligibility criteria will be clearly listed on the application form provided to program applicants.
4.5 Eligibility Criteria: Annual Renewal
Annually each spring, households receiving monthly program benefits must complete an annual renewal form to confirm their ongoing eligibility and benefit amount and to update MOF of any changes to household composition, address and other relevant information.
Recipients who do not return their annual renewal forms by the renewal deadline will no longer be eligible for the COHB program.
At renewal, and each year thereafter, household members must continue to meet the following criteria annually to remain eligible for the COHB program:
- Reside in Ontario;
- Be a renter household; and
- Not be in receipt of, or part of a household in receipt of, RGI assistance, more than one portable housing benefit, or any other government-funded housing benefit, with the exception of social assistance shelter payments.
Households receiving a nil benefit payment for 24 consecutive months will lose their eligibility under the COHB program and will be automatically exited from the program.
4.6 Owning a Home
Homeowners are not a target group for COHB support. However, households may be approved for this program if they or a member of their household currently owns a home that is suitable for year-round occupation. If eligible and approved for the COHB program, the household will not be eligible to receive any payments for the period they lived in the owned home and must move out of the home within 90 days of being determined eligible, or they will be become ineligible for the program.
In order to remain eligible for the COHB program, household members must divest (sell) their legal or beneficial interest in a residence (either in or outside Ontario) within 12 months from being determined eligible and continue to be renter households.
4.7 Portability
The COHB benefit is fully portable across Ontario. Participants can continue to receive a monthly benefit when they move to a rental unit in another Service Manager area. When a participant moves to a different Service Manager area, the amount of the monthly benefit may change, based on the new AMR for the Changes” on page corresponding size of unit in the new community. See 6.8 “In-Year 14 for more information.