Rent-Geared-to-Income Assistance

New Rent-Geared-to-Income (RGI) Rules

The Province of Ontario introduced the requirement to have limits on how much you own and how much you earn as of July 1, 2023. These are called Asset Limits and Household Income Limits (HILs).

The new rules mean that people with household assets or income over the limit will not be eligible for RGI housing. This applies to people on the wait list with The Registry and households currently receiving RGI assistance.

The asset limits in the City of Ottawa are $50,000 for a single person household and $75,000 for households with two or more people. The income limits are shown in the table below.

To be eligible for RGI assistance, you must apply to The Social Housing Registry of Ottawa. See eligibility rules. Other rules may apply.

The Social Housing Registry of Ottawa will review your application and may assign a priority listed below:

Special Provincial Priority

• You, or someone in your household, are being abused by an individual that you have lived with in the past three months, even if you don’t live with that person anymore; and
• You are planning to permanently separate yourself from the abuser.

Local Priority Access Status

Homeless Households

Households who are confirmed as experiencing homelessness. For this priority, ‘homeless’ means households who are staying in a City of Ottawa emergency shelter or who are living unsheltered in Ottawa.

Life Threatening Medical Households

Households where a member has a terminal illness or a life-threatening medical condition made worse by their current housing situation. The household must demonstrate through a licensed physician’s medical opinion that a move in housing will remove the life-threatening aspect of the condition.

Urgent Safety Households

Households where a member does not qualify for a Special Provincial Priority but is subject to current abuse from a family member or former partner or where a member of the household is subject to ongoing or extraordinary threat to personal safety by a non-family member and a change in housing will result in a significant increase to personal safety.

For information on how to apply for any of the priorities, call The Social Housing Registry of Ottawa at 613-526-2088.

Households from the Centralized Wait List are prioritized and selected from the following wait lists (in order):

1. Special Provincial Priority
2. Over housed
3. Local Priority Access Status
4. Chronological

All household members must provide proof of:

• Status in Canada
• Income
• Other documents as outlined in the application

All household members 16 years of age and older must sign the form.

Mail / in-person

1. Fill out an Application for Rent-Geared-to-Income Housing in Ottawa with The Social Housing Registry of Ottawa. Be sure to check off the communities you are interested in on the application to be considered for those housing selections.
2. Your name will be added to the Centralized Wait List for subsidized housing.

Phone

Call 613-526-2088 to book an appointment, Monday to Friday from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm. You can also book an appointment online with The Social Housing Registry of Ottawa.

• Make sure The Social Housing Registry of Ottawa always has your most up to date contact information (phone number, email and/or address)
• Housing providers offer vacant units to the household at the top of the Centralized Wait List.
• You will only receive one (1) offer of housing. If you refuse the one (1) offer, your application will be cancelled, and your file will be closed.
• All household members must file income taxes each year.

For information about the status of your application with The Social Housing Registry of Ottawa, call 613-526-2088 from Monday to Friday, 8:30 to 4:30 pm. TTY: 613-580-2401.