Waiting List Surveys Library

171,360 Ontario families, seniors and single adults and couples were on waiting lists for rent-geared-to-income housing in 2015. Waiting lists have grown by more than 45,000 households in 12 years, and applicants face an average wait of nearly four years. In many communities, the wait is much longer.

168,711 Ontario families, seniors, single adults and couples were on waiting lists for rent-geared-to-income housing in 2014. Applicants who were housed in 2014 had waited an average of 3.83 years for RGI housing. In some areas, particularly large cities, waiting times can be much longer – up to ten years.

In 2013, 165,069 families, seniors, and individuals were on local waiting lists for RGI housing. That means that 3.17% of all households in Ontario were waiting for an affordable and secure home. The waiting list total rose by 4.2 per cent in 2013, the largest in year-over-year increase since 2010.

158,445 households were waiting for RGI housing as of December 31, 2012. That’s 3.05% of households in Ontario. The numberand percentage of Ontario households on waiting lists are the highest they have been since 2004.

As of December 31, 2011, 156,358 households were waiting for affordable, rent-geared-to-income housing inOntario. The rate of growth slowed somewhat in 2011, with the number of households increasing by 2.9% after increases of 7.2% in 2010 and 9.4% in 2009.

As of January 2011, there were 152,077 households on municipal waiting lists for assisted housing. The number of households looking for assisted housing across Ontario grew by 10,442 households from January 2010 – an increase of 7.4% in one year.

At the beginning of 2010, there were 141,635 households on the municipal waiting lists for assisted housing. The number of households looking for assisted housing across Ontario has grown significantly by 12,382 households from January 2009 ‐ an increase of 9.6% in one year.