Housing in Ontario
Learn about programs to help you have a safe and affordable place to call home.
Ontario’s housing priority
Ontario is committed to getting 1.5 million homes built by 2031.
We want to help cities, towns and rural communities grow with a mix of ownership and rental housing types that meet the needs of all Ontarians.
Housing supply action plans and innovation guides
Our housing supply action plans outline our priority to take transformative action to keep costs down and remove barriers to home construction. Read our housing innovation guides to learn how to use innovative approaches to find or build different types of homes.
Rental housing
The Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 sets out landlord and tenant rights and responsibilities. It also sets out rules for landlords and tenants.
Know your rights as a tenant
Read the easy-to-understand standard lease and learn about rent increase limits and how renters are protected against unfair evictions.
Rental housing enforcement unit
Learn about what is an offence under the Residential Tenancies Act and how to report one.
Social (or community) housing
Social housing (sometimes known as community housing) is government-assisted housing that provides lower cost rental units to households with low-to-moderate incomes and can include:
- public housing (owned directly or indirectly by service managers)
- not-for-profit and co-operative housing
- rent supplement programs (often in the private market)
- rural and urban Indigenous housing (owned by Ontario Aboriginal Housing Services)
Community housing renewal strategy
Learn about Ontario’s strategy to sustain, repair and grow our community housing system.
Ontario and the National Housing Strategy
Learn about Ontario’s programs, action plans and funding allotment under National Housing Strategy.
Supportive housing
Supportive housing refers to a combination of housing assistance and support services that enable people to live as independently as possible in a community setting.
The Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing funds supportive housing programs which are focused on people that are experiencing or at-risk of homelessness, including Indigenous people living off-reserve.
Addressing homelessness
Learn about programs and strategies to prevent homelessness and help people experiencing or at risk of homelessness.
Find housing
Get in touch with your municipality
Service managers are designated municipalities in southern Ontario and district social services administration boards in northern Ontario that oversee affordable housing and homelessness prevention programs across the province. They use provincial funding to meet local housing needs through programs and services including rent supplements.
Find your local service manager to see what housing supports are available in your community.
Indigenous program administrators
If you are an Indigenous person living off-reserve, you may also wish to contact one of the Indigenous program administrators:
- Miziwe Biik Development Corporation, which serves the Greater Toronto Area (GTA)
- Ontario Aboriginal Housing Services, which serves regions outside of the GTA
Survivors of domestic violence and human trafficking
Service managers may be able to help survivors of domestic violence and human trafficking find immediate housing in their community. Survivors may be able to receive:
- priority placement for a social housing unit
- a direct, monthly benefit to help pay their rent (if eligible for the Canada-Ontario Housing Benefit program)
- other local or municipal portable housing benefits