Social Housing Administration Directive No

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1 Regional Municipality of Halton Social Housing Administration Directive No Date: October 18, 2004 To: Social Housing Providers subject to: All Social Housing Providers operating in Halton (SHB Notification 04-03) Part VI of the Social Housing Reform Act, 2000 (SHB Notification Part V of the Social Housing Reform Act, 2000 (SHB Notifications and 04-10) Subject: Various Social Housing Branch Notifications of interest and or governing housing providers in Halton Halton Region Authority: Regional Municipality of Halton By-Law Direction: The Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing has issued Social Housing Branch Notifications on the following topics: SHB Notification Asbestos potential health risk due to asbestos in loose fill vermiculite insulation. SHB Notification Amendments to O. Reg. 298/01 This notification deals with important regulation changes related to: Housing Division Regional Municipality of Halton 690 Dorval Drive, 7 th Floor, Oakville L6K 3X9 Tel (905) toll free; FAX (905)

2 Page 2 Greater flexibility to deal with household eligibility. Please note that this change is consistent with instructions previously issued by Halton Region; Expanding the residency requirements to more closely reflect Ontario Works eligibility rules; Adding specific items to the list of exclusions for income calculation purposes; Amending the setting of interest rates for the imputed rate of return so that one date is used annually; Removing the requirement to pursue income for applicants. Other changes were made for clarity and consistency. SHB Notification A Minister s Regulation amending O. Reg. 339/01 SHB Notification Special Payments for social assistance recipients Direction: Please review the contents of these notifications and implement as appropriate. Please contact your Housing Programs Administrator if you have any questions. Effective Date: This directive is effective immediately. Adelina Urbanski Commissioner, Social & Community Services Department Housing Division Regional Municipality of Halton 690 Dorval Drive Oakville, ON L6K 3X9 Tel (905) toll free; FAX (905)

3 Asbestos potential health risk due to asbestos in loose fill vermiculite insulation Dir No Attachment #1 Subject: Asbestos potential health risk due to asbestos in loose fill vermiculite insulation Legislation/Regulation Release Operational The Social Housing Branch advises service managers of information recently provided by Health Canada, which has been reported in the media and also by letter from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation to our Deputy Minister. The Health Canada notice is self-explanatory and is available on the Internet at: or at: Follow the links for asbestos. This is a newly discovered issue, which concerns loose fill vermiculite insulation used in attics. Until now, this type of insulation was considered to be safe and non-toxic. Health Canada now warns that asbestos is present in certain brands of vermiculite used in houses. Action required Service managers are responsible for ensuring all housing providers operate their portfolios in accordance with all applicable statutes and regulations, including those regarding asbestos. In brief, building owners must have an asbestos management plan, which meets the Occupational Health and Safety Act: Designated Substance Asbestos, R.R.O. 1990, Regulation 837, and Designated Substance Asbestos on Construction Projects and in Buildings and Repair Operations, R.R.O. 1990, Regulation 838 Briefly, these regulations require landlords to: inventory asbestos containing materials in their portfolio, train all staff who are likely to contact asbestos, notify contractors if they may contact asbestos during their work, and abate certain asbestos containing materials. Regarding public housing, the former Ontario Housing Corporation properties were transferred to local housing corporations complete with functioning asbestos management programs. Asbestos is not an environmental hazard under the Environmental Protection Act. Ontario Housing Corporation does not retain liability for asbestos, under the Social Housing Reform Act, The asbestos regulations have been in force for fourteen years, therefore all housing providers ought to have long-standing asbestos management programs. This notice serves as a reminder that these programs must be active and must now include vermiculite.

4 Contact Service managers may direct questions about the contents of this notification to Francis Chang, P. Eng. (Building Science Advisor) at or to: Suggestions from service managers on improvements to the guide are always welcome. Toni Farley, Director Social Housing Branch August 3, 2004

5 Amendments to O. Reg. 298/01 Dir No Attachment #2 Subject: Amendments to O. Reg. 298/01 Legislation/Regulation Release Operational A new regulation (O. Reg. 220/04) amending Ontario Regulation 298/01 was filed on August 12, Consultation with service managers and other stakeholder organizations led to a number of proposed changes that had widespread support across stakeholder groups. These changes have now been implemented and include: Allowing greater flexibility for service managers to deal with ineligibility; Expanding residency requirements to more closely reflect Ontario Work eligibility rules; Adding specific items to list of exclusions from income when determining geared-to-income rent payable; Amending setting of interest rates for imputed rate of return to once annually; and Removing the requirement that pursuit of income provisions apply to applicants. Other changes have been made for clarity and consistency and to update legislative references. Actual wording is available on e-laws, however, a brief summary of the changes and their intent follows. In the event of a conflict between this summary and the actual wording of the regulations, the actual wording prevails. The Guide to Rent-Geared-To-Income Assistance will be revised as needed to address the changes and copies highlighting the changes will be sent to service managers in the near future. Summary of Changes Sections 5, 6, 10, 11, 20, 21and 52 of O. Reg. 298/01 have been amended to include a new subsection to allow a service manager to extend, one or more times, the period within which a household must provide an updated document or information, and it can be done either before or after the original time period expired. The intent is to give service managers the flexibility to extend original time periods so they are not automatically required to determine a household ineligible where there is a late filing. It applies to

6 applications, annual eligibility reviews and income reviews for tenants and applicants on both the centralized and special needs waiting lists. Section 6 has also been amended to ensure that if an applicant for special needs housing is also applying for special priority, and the member making the request believes that he or she will be at risk of further abuse if he or she attempts to obtain information or a document for the application, the service manager shall not require them to provide that material. This change mirrors a provision in Section 5 for special priority applicants on the centralized waiting list. In Section 7, an amendment to the criteria permits eligibility where the member has made an application for status as a permanent resident under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (Canada), rather than limiting eligibility to those who have received permanent status. Other changes reflect the new wording in the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (Canada) for removal orders to replace deportation, departure or exclusion orders. In Section 7, provisions for pursuit of income have been removed and placed in Section 12 and amended to refer to persons in receipt of geared-to-income assistance. The purpose is to remove pursuit of income provisions from applying to applicants so that pursuit of income need not apply until households are in receipt of assistance. Section 11 has been amended to state that notification of changes in documents or information by a household that is in housing or is on a waiting list for housing provided by an alternative housing provider with a mandate to house the homeless or hard to house would not apply if the alternative housing provider notifies the service manager that it is of the view that requiring the household to comply is inappropriate in the circumstances. A similar provision is available in S. 5 dealing with the application process. This change establishes the same provision specifically during the review of eligibility. Section 24 has been amended so that persons applying for special priority who are also applying for special needs housing will be placed on the special needs waiting list. Section 50 has been amended to add three exclusions to income: an extended care and maintenance allowance for a former Crown ward received from a children s aid society under subsection 71(2) of the Child and Family Services Act; a Special Allowance received from Veterans Affairs Canada under the Veterans Affairs Disability Pension Program; and a payment received as a result of a claim that relates to an aboriginal residential school and was made against the Government of Canada or a church or other religious organization. Section 50 has been amended so that the interest rate used to calculate imputed income is based on the most recent November issue of Canada Savings Bonds - which is generally the first issue of each Canada Savings Bond season. Section 50 has also been amended to add a calculation that has the effect of excluding the first $1,000 of a household s non-interest bearing account(s) from rent calculations. Section 52 is amended to provide the provision that households in alternative housing for the homeless and hard-to-house may not be required to provide information for income reviews if the provider is of the view it would not be appropriate. This provision is available in S. 5 and has been added to S. 11.

7 Appropriate changes have also been made to update references to legislation [Interjurisdictional Support Orders Act, 2002 and Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (Canada)]. For further information please contact Roy Sanger at or to or to Mary Fantauzzi at or to Toni Farley Director Social Housing Branch September 17, 2004

8 Ontario Regulation 244/04 Dir No Attachment #3 Subject: Ontario Regulation 244/04 Legislation/Regulation Release Operational A Minister s Regulation amending O. Reg. 339/01 was filed on August 19, This regulation addresses an issue identified by a number of service managers regarding the calculation of mortgage subsidy resulting in some housing providers receiving subsidy in excess of their funding requirements. The subsidy calculations are set out in Part VI of the SHRA under the heading, Subsidy Payable to Housing Providers. This Minister s Regulation [Ontario regulation 244/04] allows a mortgage subsidy amount to be a number less than zero when calculating total subsidies (adding it to Rent-Geared-to-Income and tax subsidies) for housing providers. This amendment has been incorporated in the consolidated regulations available at the Ontario e- Laws website ( ). Toni Farley, Director Social Housing Branch September 27, 2004

9 Special Payments for social assistance recipients Dir No Attachment #4 Subject: Special Payments for social assistance recipients Legislation/Regulation Release Operational As you may be aware, the government has announced that maximum monthly ODSP and Ontario Works rates will increase by 3 per cent. The increase will be implemented on February 28, 2005 for ODSP and March 1, 2005 for Ontario Works. In the meantime, two special benefit payments will be issued to eligible recipients. The special benefit payments are mandatory benefits that will be issued to eligible recipients of the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) and Ontario Works. The special benefit payments will be issued as part of the September 30 and November 30, 2004 ODSP income support cheques and October 1 and December 1, 2004 financial assistance cheques under Ontario Works. The special payments should not have an impact on the rent for benefit units as payments received under the Ontario Works Act or Ontario Disability Support Program Act are not included in calculating non-benefit income. (O. Reg. 298/01, s.48(8)). Social Housing Branch is working with the Ministry of Community and Social Services on possible changes to the scales to be co-ordinated with the general rate change next spring. For further information please contact Roy Sanger at or roy.sanger@mah.gov.on.ca Toni Farley, Director Social Housing Branch September 30, 2004