Three hundred waiting for housing assistance in district

Darlene Wroe

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

DISTRICT – DTSSAB, which oversees housing services in the district, has a wait list of 300 applicants.

Wait times can range depending on the specific need and circumstances of the applicant. Applications could be viewed as emergency situations and given priority status, whereas some may wait anywhere from one to as much as ten years, depending on the type of housing and location the applicant requested.

District of Timiskaming Social Services Administration Board (DTSSAB) tenant services supervisor Candice Danchuk spoke on the subject in a presentation to the board March 20 at their regular meeting at the Englehart Family Health Team boardroom.

While the waiting lists are long, the region is doing better than some other areas, she said. She noted that DTSSAB was able to house 88 new tenants in 2023.

“To house 88 people just last year alone is huge.”

In April 2021 DTSSAB, in cooperation with other area partners such as the Ontario Provincial Police and the Canadian Mental Health Association, a By-Name list was established to provide awareness of the people in the district who were experiencing, or were at risk of experiencing, homelessness at that time. Housing manager Steven Cox told the board that since the By-Name list has been established there have been 222 names on the list. He said 115 have received assistance through DTSSAB’s homelessness prevention program. Currently there are 40 individuals known to be actively experiencing homelessness or in danger of it, he told the board.

MORE PROACTIVE

In response to the information about long waiting lists for housing assistance, board member Clifford Fielder suggested the board needs to be more proactive.

“It’s probably going to get worse instead of better,” he said of the waiting list for housing.

“We’re always short of houses,” he added. “We should be thinking about what we should be doing now, and getting ready for years from now.”

Board member Ian MacPherson also expressed the view that more proactive steps are needed to meet future needs.

Outlining the demographics of the waiting list, Danchuk said that 27 per cent are waiting for a family unit, 64 per cent are single individuals awaiting units, and eight per cent of the applicants are people who are seeking senior-only living.

There are different levels of housing assistance available through DTSSAB, and the waiting times range, depending on what is being sought and where the applicant wants to be located, she explained.

Criteria for eligibility include an examination of income and assets, tax returns, and other relevant information.

Applications for housing can be made by paper or on the DTSSAB website.

“When applying for housing it really is equal opportunity,” Danchuk said.

“As long as they are Canadian citizens and meet the criteria they are going to be offered a unit.”

Darlene Wroe, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Temiskaming Speaker