Key takeaways from the 2024 ONPHA Conference  

The opening plenary at the 2024 ONPHA Conference sparked an urgent and wide-reaching discussion, tackling the critical question: Is community housing still relevant?  

The resounding answer? Yes, now more than ever.  

But the conversation revealed more than simple affirmation. It uncovered the complex challenges facing the sector and offered insights into potential paths forward.  

Beyond the market: An overlooked non-market housing crisis

What became immediately clear is that we’re navigating two distinct housing crises: one in market housing that receives significant attention, and another in non-market housing, often overlooked despite serving our most vulnerable populations. As both crises continue to deepen, the panel highlighted the urgent need for transformative approaches to community housing, both in urban centers and rural communities. 

The continued relevance of community housing  

Community housing remains a cornerstone of our social safety net, and its relevance is more pressing than ever. Sean Baird, President and CEO of Toronto Community Housing, painted a compelling picture of those who rely on community housing in Toronto: 

  • The average household income is just $19,000 – far below the full-time minimum wage.  
  • More than half of households are led by women. 
  • More than half include at least one person with a disability. 
  • More than two-thirds are racialized individuals.  

This is a population market housing was never designed to serve. As housing researcher Dr. Carolyn Whitzman pointed out, this issue isn’t new. Nearly a century ago, the Dominion Housing Act of the 1930s acknowledged that the market would inherently never meet the needs of the lowest income bracket. 

The systemic challenges facing community housing 

While its role is irreplaceable, community housing faces serious systemic challenges. Elizabeth McIsaac, President of Maytree, identified three interconnected areas under immense strain: 

  • The ability to increase housing supply is hampered by our inability to keep pace with population growth, despite broader efforts in the housing sector.  
  • The lack of a structured supportive housing system that leaves a critical gap in services for those with complex needs. 
  • The social safety net offers inadequate benefits, leaving tenants in a constant struggle. Even well-intentioned programs like the Canada Ontario Housing Benefit are insufficient and poorly integrated with the social assistance system.  

These systemic breakdowns create an environment where community housing providers are increasingly stretched thin, forced to act as the default safety net. As Baird noted, we’re seeing a trend of resources being diverted towards emergency response rather than the preventative measures and coordinated strategies needed for a functional housing continuum.  

The increasing pressure on community housing providers to address the complex and growing needs of their tenants, often leaves them stepping in as “service providers by default” when the other systems falter. 

Furthermore, community housing providers are expected to serve multiple roles, including:  

  • Landlords maintaining properties, 
  • service providers addressing complex tenant needs, 
  • and developers creating new units. 

Most community housing organizations in Ontario are small, with over 500 having fewer than 100 units each, which severely limits their ability to significantly scale up development. Meanwhile, larger organizations face capital constraints.  

“When we talk about doubling [the stock], that’s a massive undertaking for which we don’t have the capital. That needs to come to the table,” empathized Baird.  

Rural and small community realities 

The challenges facing community housing aren’t uniform across regions. Cheryl Fort, Mayor of Township of Hornepayne in Northern Ontario, brought crucial perspectives from smaller communities. When she was elected in 2018, housing wasn’t on her radar as a priority. That quickly changed as she witnessed residents commuting 140 kilometers for jobs or having to couch surf due to housing shortages.  

“The biggest struggle [in our community] is the lack of capacity and knowledge,” Fort explained.  Small communities often lack personnel who can navigate complex grant applications or develop diverse housing options beyond traditional single-family dwellings. 

From crisis to transformation 

The panel was unanimous: incremental improvements won’t solve the crisis. We need a systemic overhaul to meet the ambitious goal of doubling community housing stock while preserving existing aging properties. Both these needs require significant capital investment. 

So, what’s the path forward? The experts highlighted three key strategies that could transform community housing: 

  1. Leverage public lands creatively. Elizabeth McIsaac pointed to recent changes in the Canada Lands Corporation mandate that could revolutionize affordable housing development. By making federal lands available specifically for affordable housing and pairing this with favorable borrowing rates, projects become financially viable without costing the government through grants. “The federal government…retains ownership so their balance sheet doesn’t change”, McIsaac explained. Expanding this approach to provincial and municipal lands could multiply the impact dramatically.  
  1. Treat housing as essential infrastructure. Just as we don’t question funding for roads or bridges, we shouldn’t question investing in housing. This fundamental shift recognizes housing as equally essential to society’s functioning. As Dr. Carolyn Whitzman noted, the current approach is economically inefficient: “It costs so much more to police homelessness…to give people no other choice than inadequate temporary shelters.” 
  1. Build powerful coalitions for change. Mayor Cheryl Fort said it perfectly: “As a collective, as our society, if we are going to get through this, we all have to push…leaders to actually stand up and lead.” Local politicians wield significant influence that can cascade upward to provincial and federal levels. “Had we all been vocally active in the early nineties, we wouldn’t have allowed our governments to give up on social housing.”  

The complexity of the crisis demands specialized roles and collaborative approaches. As McIsaac empathized, we need “an articulated purpose with goals and intention” that spans across ministries to avoid “the gymnastics of finding a pocket of money.” 

As Fort noted, “we start with the vision, the why. We figure out the money as we go, once we have the vision in place.”  

The resources exist. What is missing is collective will and coordinated action to make community housing an urgent priority. As Dr. Whitzman observed, “We have enough money collectively, and we have enough brains collectively.” Now is the time to translate that potential into tangible commitment.  

After all, as she said: “You can’t have Housing First without housing, first.”  

Delegates that attended our 2024 ONPHA Conference can re-watch this session on demand in our ONPHA Events platform.   

Looking for more conversations like this? Join us this Fall at the upcoming 2025 ONPHA Conference in Toronto!  

Related Topics: