Windsor has a rent program that helps keep people housed. Its budget is up 300% since 2022

A city program that helps cover first and last month's rent, or back rent for people facing eviction, will likely come in half a million dollars over budget this year. 

That's as the program's total budget is up more than 300 per cent — rising to a projected $2.3 million in 2024, up from $550,000 in 2022. 

Staff say more people are applying for help than previous years because of rapidly rising rental costs and the rising cost of living. 

"It's really folks that would be struggling to get through a housing crisis without this one-time support," said Jennifer Tanner, the city's manager of homelessness and housing supports.

The Emergency Rent Assistance Program can cover up to $822 per month for a household with an income of $46,000 renting a place with one bedroom.

Those limits increase up to $2,266 for a household with an income of $83,000 renting a place with four bedrooms or more. 

Tanner says the program helped 851 households in 2023 and is on pace to approve 900 applications by the end of this year.

The program does not give money to anyone two years in a row and each application is reviewed by a social worker to make sure the rental is considered affordable.

The average payout was $2,000 last year, up from $790 in 2022.

"It's folks that are facing a housing crisis, maybe they've lost a job or had a reduction in their hours of work and they haven't been able to keep up on their rent payments," said Tanner. 

"Or it's people in an even more dire situation who have actually become homeless, are staying in an emergency shelter or couch surfing with friends and family, and just can't save up that first and last month's rent to secure an affordable housing unit for themselves."

Windsor's vacancy rate has dropped to two per cent according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, with rental rates rising 20 per cent between October 2020 and October 2023.

Program costs will rise but city says it's cost effective

Staff have warned city council the budget for the program will need to grow by about $500,000 this year, up to $2.3 million.

"Then in 2025, we project that it will be even higher based on the rising rental costs and just our data analysis of increased demand for this program," said Tanner. 

She said the program is paid for with money the city receives under the provincial homelessness prevention funding stream alongside money from the municipal budget. 

It had a total budget of $550,000 in 2022.

Tanner says the program is cost effective: According to data the city uses, the cost of a person using a shelter bed is $23,000 each year. 

"We will always need some level of emergency shelters in a community to deal with crises that we weren't able to prevent, but this is a very cost-effective homelessness prevention program," said Tanner. 

"I am fiercely protective of this program because ... it's so important that we make these investments now to prevent trauma on families and individuals and also higher costs for other services."

Evictions on the rise in Windsor

Shelley Gilbert is the executive director of Legal Assistance of Windsor, which works with people facing eviction. 

"We're seeing an increase in the numbers of people, but we're also seeing an increase in the complexity of their matters," said Gilbert, who has referred people to the city's emergency rental program.

"Being able to find affordable housing is virtually impossible right now, certainly safe affordable housing."

Gilbert said that the city needs to continue funding the program because it gives people on the edge of homelessness enough money to avoid emergency shelter systems. 

"Not all of us are able to have family and friends take us in. If we're at the point of eviction, an eviction notice has been issued, which is one of the criteria here, then people will move into homelessness."

Losing housing can be a 'dehumanizing' experience

Lacie Krzemien is manager of resident services at Victoria Manor, a supportive housing space in Windsor. 

She's also been an outreach worker who helps connect people to housing and is an advocate for supportive and affordable housing. 

Krzemien says that saving up first and last month's rent can be the biggest barrier people face getting into housing.

"It has a very extreme value for someone who may not be able to get first and last month's rent. It could mean the difference between having housing and experiencing homelessness," said Krzemien, who called the program wonderful.

"It doesn't surprise me that the program is over budget considering the need in our community."

She said someone who gets evicted isn't just losing housing, saying that people who move into a shelter system lose storage space. 

"It's very dehumanizing to not have a place for your family photos and your belongings passed down from your ancestors."

Tanner said that the people who use the program are pretty evenly split between those part of the Ontario Disability Support Program and qualifying low income earners. 

Tanner, Gilbert and Krzemien all said there needs to be more income supports for Canadians so that people can afford a better quality of life.