Senior citizen programs like housing authority's Section 8s?

Question

I was reading up on Section 8's in the U.S and subsidy housing in Canada and was wondering if there were any organizations like these that provide senior citizen tenants?  From what I can tell, these programs provide housing for tenants who're either disabled or earn low income.  Is there such a thing?  Any notable example programs or organizations?

Samuel Sedore · Answer

I think he may mean when the government pay the tenants rent?

I have heard of these but have no experience or idea on how to implement them. I met an investor here in town who rented to government assistance low income individuals, ended up with mostly drug addicts but the rent and utilities were paid by the feds so they  didn't care.

Any idea of how that program works Roy?

I know In Ontario we have both government owned and landlord owned low income, not sure the major differences.

Roy N. · Answer

Account Closed

Housing assistance in Canada is a provincial matter and each province addresses it a little differently.  Here in NB, there are several programs which provide assistance, but the social housing (NB Housing) assistance for low income is available to seniors who qualify.  There are other assisted living programs which help seniors alter their homes (stair lifts, wheel chair ramps, etc) so they may remain in them longer.

In Manitoba, you have Manitoba Housing which provides similar subsidized housing programmes (though, if I recall, MB Housing owns their own buildings ... some provinces - NB for one - no longer do that, but provide coupons to subsidize housing with private landlords).

Brianne Chard · Answer

@Roy N. - small world! I live in Frankford now and grew up in the area. I'm thinking the tenants that @Samuel Sedore friend was renting to were on ODSP maybe. I've had tenants on Disability as well and the cheque comes directly to me from the government. A caution on that though - this is at the tenants discretion and they can change it at any point so even if they tell you that their rent is guaranteed, that's not necessarily true!

Roy N. · Answer

@Brianne Chard

Welcome to BP!  I'm originally from the Quinte area (Belleville, Trenton, Carrying Place) some 40 years ago.

@Samuel Sedore - I was going to post that it was unlikely your friend was receiving rental subsidies from the federal government (unless his tenants are veterans or first nation), but I could not remember how Ontario executed housing assistance ... thanks to Brianne for the answer.

Here in NB, the a property as to be approved for social housing - an agreement with the landlord and an inspection by the housing authority.  Tenants who have housing support will present a certificate/coupon/(whatever the proper name is) when they apply for tenancy.  If you sign a lease with the tenant, you complete a section of the certificate and it is returned to social housing.  Social housing may pay the landlord directly or may pay the allowance to the tenant (I'm unclear on what criteria determines which behaviour ... but will find out soon as we have offered units for Syrian refugees).

Brianne Chard · Answer

@Clayton Rokosh I'm not sure what it's like in Manitoba but in Ontario it's ran by the municipality, in my area they have both units that they own and they have units that're subsidized. I currently have low income tenants that we receive $210 /month from our County Housing department and then the tenant pays the balance. With this program, I've found the tenant myself and then applied for the funding since this allows me to have control over who's moving in. I don't think any of the programs in my area require that you rent to a tenant that they choose, they just have to meet their requirements for low income. They also don't just consider low income to be a tenant on social assistance like disability or welfare so you don't have to rent to someone that doesn't work and is going to ruin your unit. In previous years they've also had funding for upgrades to your property if you agree to rent to low income families, which essentially puts a cap on your rent. This isn't an issue in my area since the cap I believe is around $1200 per month and rents in my area for most units are below that anyways.