RPTV Weekly News, Episode 62: City of Toronto extends deadline for new housing waitlist system

RPTV Weekly News Show Episode 62 (Sep 27th to Oct 6th).

In this weekly news show hosted by RPTV reporters Fred Alvarado, Kedar Ahmed, Gabriel Meissner and Jabin Haque, we present news that impacts Toronto's Regent Park and the surrounding areas.

Episode 62 features segments on:

• Friends of Regent Park hosts Borrow a Grandparent event (01:25 min);
• Bain Co-op celebrates Annual Street festival (06:07 min);
• City Councillor for Toronto Centre Chris Moise hosts Regent Park        Neighbourhood Townhall  meeting (07:20 min);
• Allan Gardens Community Safety Team provides on-the-ground support (22:53 min);
• No Demovictions organizes action for protecting affordable housing (28:34 min);
• City of Toronto extends deadline for new housing waitlist system (39:48 min);
• Toronto Public Health releases mid-2023 data for deaths of people experiencing homelessness (41:09 min);
• Four victims in hospital with critical injuries following overnight shooting in Sherbourne and Dundas intersection (43:36 min);
• Things Falling Apart Theater Company presents “Just for a Moment” in Regent Park (44:15 min);
• Events and Jobs in Regent Park (49:31 min).

This week’s lead story:

City of Toronto extends deadline for new housing waitlist system.
By Fred Alvarado
Fred is a community journalist with FOCUS MEDIA ARTS CENTRE.

Mayor Olivia Chow made a last-minute move to ensure people already waiting years for subsidized housing aren’t booted off the waitlist. They were required to move their applications online by September 30th, a deadline that was fast approaching and had advocates sounding the alarm about the possibility of thousands losing their spot in the queue.

On September 28th, the city’s Planning and Housing Committee voted unanimously in favour of supporting a motion by chair Councillor Gord Perks to re-evaluate several changes to the RGI application system, most notably moving the Sept. 30 MyAccesstoHousingTO registration deadline to January 31, 2024.

The committee’s decision comes after advocates and community members spoke out about their concerns with the changes to the RGI application system.

City Councillor Gord Perks recommended that the online system, as well as the process to transition people to it, be compliant with the Ontario Human Rights Code and take a human rights approach to housing as described in the Toronto Housing Charter and the city’s Digital Infrastructure framework.

The motion called for council’s endorsement of a two-year grace period for non-registered individuals so that the day on which they last applied for RGI housing is maintained. Perks’ motion also included a provision to extend this timeframe, as needed, so that no one seeking and entitled to RGI housing loses their spot on the waiting list.

It also recommended that adequate resources and staffing be put in place to help RGI waitlist applicants transition the new system and that additional training be made available for the shelter and outreach workers who help them.

There are still about 33,600 households on the rent-geared-to-income housing waiting list who have not registered online. A statement from the City’s housing secretariat said those households “have not been in contact with staff in two to four years.”

The City said most vulnerable applicants will not be bound by the September 30 deadline, including survivors of domestic violence and human trafficking, people experiencing homelessness and newcomers who have been in Canada less than 12 months.