have their income exempt from the rent calculation, removing the conditions previously attached to this exemption.

• Effective July 1, 2020, minimum RGI rent increased from $85 to $129. RGI minimum rent will be indexed annually in line with the pr ovince’s rent increase guideline (established annually as part of the RTA). Existing RGI tenants housed on or before June 30, 2020, and paying rent less than the new minimum rent of $129, will be grandfathered through a multi year phased-in increase ($8/year). Housing Services issued a directive highlighting the changes to the minimum RGI rent provisions in April 2020.

The legislative RGI simplification changes came into force on July 1, 2020 but allow Service Managers the choice of implementing the changes on July 1, 2020 or July 1, 2021. The target date to implement the RGI simplification changes in Windsor Essex is set for July 1, 2021.

Training, resources and sector support will be facilitated in advance of our implementation of the RGI calculation simplification changes.

Communications regarding these regulatory changes have taken place in a number of ways since the province announced these changes in September 2019, such as:

• Regular updates and communication with our social housing providers at dedicated Social Housing Provider meetings, sharing information and instruction on how these regulatory changes affect their duties and responsibilities as social housing/RGI managers of social housing/RGI tenancies.

• E-mail communications to social housing providers and RGI supplement administrators sharing the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing ( “ MMAH ” ) social housing notifications related to the legislative changes.

• The issuance of a social housing directive to our social housing providers and RGI supplement administrators regarding the mandated change in the minimum RGI provisions within the HSA effective July 1, 2020.

• On-going communication with the Housing and Homelessness Advisory Committee, providing notification of the introduction of these regulatory changes, general updates and sharing progress on implementation of these changes in Windsor and Essex County.

Bill 204 – 2021 Residential Rent Freeze

The Helping Tenants and Small Businesses Act, 2020 will amend the RTA’s rent increase guideline for 2021, which was set at 1.5 per cent, thereby freezing residential rents at their 2020 rental rates.

The 2021 rent freeze applies to both market and RGI households living in the majority of rental units covered by the RTA, including:

• Newly built units occupied for the first time on or after November 15, 2018, which are typically exempt from the rent increase guideline;

• Purpose-built rental apartments, condos, houses and basement apartments;