‘I was going to live in an encampment’: ODSP recipient says finding housing is nearly impossible

Had it not been for the timely kindness of a stranger, Kelly says they would have had no choice but to live on the streets two years ago.

“Someone from the community who had heard of my situation offered a spare bedroom that they happened to have,” they explain. “But in the final weeks leading up to me having to leave my previous place, I had already come to this sort of resigned acceptance … I was already planning for the worst case scenario.”

They began to research storage units to store their belongings and started looking for camping equipment.

“I was going to just look for a park … live in an encampment,” they say. “This individual, who’s since become a good friend, really saved me out of what could have been a really dire situation, but also — given various disabilities — it could have just led to my death.”

Kelly, whose name has been changed to protect their identity, has been receiving Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) benefits for more than 15 years, but says the amount is nowhere near what’s needed to feel safe or build stability.

“Currently it’s at about just over $1,300 for a single person. And even then when we see the rental prices by contrast being $2,500 on average for one bedroom — it’s never been sufficient,” they say.

“Right now, the rental wage is about 30-something dollars an hour. Minimum wage is half of that. For somebody who’s on social assistance, they’re not getting anywhere close enough to that,” says Lorraine Lam with the Shelter Housing Justice Network (SHJN).

“The ODSP rate is below what is considered the poverty line by all Canadian measures,” adds Annie Hodgins, executive director of the Canadian Centre for Housing Rights (CCHR).

Along with the ODSP amount being insufficient in the current housing market, the stigma surrounding recipients is an added challenge.

“What was really hard was trying to combat the stereotypes and rhetoric around welfare recipients not being ‘civil or contributing members of society’ — or worse, they could just be labelled as criminals or drug addicts,” says Kelly. “I’ve faced various kinds of stigmas and discriminations for being poor, for being racialized and disabled and also as a survivor of sexual violence — all the while receiving ODSP and trying to come across as an ‘ideal tenant’ as it were. All of those exacerbated and compounding impacts just make it practically impossible for anyone to gain any sort of social upward mobility in life.”

Hodgins adds that CCHR used to be able to advocate for people on ODSP and secure housing for them if they were discriminated against on those grounds.

“It’s actually illegal under the Ontario Human Rights Code — receipt of social assistance is a protected ground,” she says.

“When I started working at CCHR 10 years ago, there were still some cases in which we would phone landlords and we could negotiate with them, but the prices have just gotten out of reach. Things have gotten just progressively so unaffordable across the country at this point that that’s no longer work that we’re really able to do in most areas.”

A dearth of vacant units across the city further exacerbates the problem.

“There’s a 1.7 vacancy rate, which is very, very low. So you don’t have a lot of bargaining chips in your pocket when you’re trying to work with landlords. And it’s very sad that that is even a thing that has to be done,” adds Hodgins.

“Landlords are very, very, very cautious and they’re using very specific identifiers to determine what type of ‘ideal tenant’ they want … and it does cause barriers for many people,” says Munira Ravji, real estate advisor with Engel and Volkers, Toronto.

Kelly confirms that when they approached a real estate agent while seeking housing, they heard a similar sentiment.

“At the time I was still a student and also working part-time, so I checked off these boxes of what makes a good tenant. But despite that, the realtor responded by saying that whenever landlords get a tenant applicant who’s also on social assistance, regardless of other protective factors, chances of getting accepted were quite low unless by the grace of the landlords themselves that are willing to ‘take a risk on people like us,'” they say.

Nevertheless, Ravji says she has had some success finding housing for social assistance recipients, but admits it takes a lot more leg work to convince landlords of their suitability.

In the absence of sufficient financial backing, she says it all comes down to the tenant’s character profile.

“What I do, and what I suggest other people do as well, is really spell out the character of the individual … their caseworker, people who have supported them in their community, like leaders at community organizations, I think it’s really important for these people to come together as allies and help build the character of that potential tenant,” she says.

She adds that while ODSP payments for housing often go directly to the landlord, that also may not be enough to create an acceptable tenant profile. While disclosing why a person might be receiving social assistance is not required and can feel intrusive, Ravji says transparency with potential landlords can go a long way in building trust.

“So a landlord is coming into the situation thinking, ‘okay, great, guaranteed funds, but why isn’t this person working? What type of person are they? … Why are they on ODSP?’ Yes, that is a personal question, but it could really help the landlord understand their circumstances,” she says. “There are a lot of landlords in Toronto that want to work with people on the human side.”

However, she says larger, systemic change is the only long-term solution.

“Even millionaires are having trouble finding rentals in Toronto. So it’s a crisis across the board,” she says.

“The government is not focusing on building affordable and supportive and social housing to the extent that we actually need,” adds Hodgins. “If those who are really in need and who are falling through the cracks are not being addressed, that’s a huge problem”

Lam adds that subsidized housing in the city also needs an overhaul.

“The wait for a family shelter, as far as I know, is over 200 days. It’s pretty impossible,” she says. “At this point, I think we have to hope that there is somebody out there with an apartment or a basement and out of goodwill they’re willing to … rent it at [an affordable rate].”

Kelly adds that while the ODSP amount has been increased recently, the system is failing those it is meant to help.

“It doesn’t actually help people get off of assistance, and if anything, I would say it’s very much like just getting choked out until people literally end up dying. For me, I would say that at no point, in all my years of receiving ODSP, has it actually provided me with security to my life or safety and comfort. And instead, receiving social assistance has actually created and exacerbated new and existing forms of harm faced by people like me from institutions, from governments,” they say.

“I think it’s important to remember that people who get on disability assistance don’t get on it because we want to. Disability isn’t a choice. I think it’s also important to remind ourselves that just because certain social services and programs exist, it doesn’t mean that it’s functioning or that it’s effective.”