Rental Housing Supply Program

This is the part that trips people up. Two very different groups are involved.

Who applies to the RHSP:

• Private builders putting up big new rental buildings.
• Community housing providers — non-profits and co-ops that already run affordable housing.
• Indigenous housing organizations — through a dedicated stream that supports 5,200 new affordable and supportive homes for Indigenous people over the ten-year plan.

Who ends up living in the homes:

• Regular Toronto renters — for the market-rate units in the buildings.
• Renters who qualify for Affordable Rental — the 20%+ portion where rents are capped by the City for 40 years.
• Renters who need Rent-Geared-to-Income (RGI) homes — where you pay a percentage of your income rather than a set rent. These slots are limited and have long wait-lists managed separately by the City.
• Renters who need supportive housing — homes bundled with mental health, addiction, or other support services.

The City sets a cap on what an Affordable Rental home can charge. These numbers are updated once a year, most recently on July 1, 2026. If you sign a lease at one of these homes, this is the most your rent can be:

Source: City of Toronto, RHSP page. Rents shown for 2-bedroom and 3-bedroom are effective July 1, 2026.

To put those numbers in context: the average market rent for a 1-bedroom condo in downtown Toronto in mid-2026 sits around $2,300-$2,500. So the RHSP 1-bedroom cap of $1,426 is roughly $1,000 a month less than the open market — that's around $12,000 a year back in your pocket if you land one.

The RHSP has a second, higher tier called Rent-Controlled Homes. These aren't as cheap as Affordable Rental, but the rent is still limited — capped at 150% of the average market rent as tracked by the City. Rent-controlled units are only offered by community housing providers, not private landlords.

Think of these as "middle-tier" rents. Not deeply subsidized, but still capped, still stable, still protected from big year-over-year jumps.

The RHSP splits its help into five different pots of money, called streams. Each one targets a different type of builder or project.

1. Community Housing Pre-Development Fund (CHPF). An interest-free loan of up to $50,000 per affordable home, given to non-profit housing providers. It covers early-stage work like design and studies before a project starts building. Open on a rolling basis.
2. Affordable Rental and Rent-Controlled Housing Incentives (ARRCHI). Waives planning fees, permit fees, and development charges. Also gives property tax breaks for as long as the rent stays capped. Open to non-profits and private builders. Open on a rolling basis.
3. Purpose-Built Rental (PBR) Housing Incentives. Defers development charges — sometimes indefinitely — on regular market-rate rentals, as long as at least 20% of the project is Affordable Rental for 40 years. In June 2026, City Council approved Phase 2 of PBR, aiming to unlock 10,000 new rental homes (at least 2,000 affordable, up to 8,000 market). Phase 2 details are still being finalized.
4. Capital Funding stream. Direct grants to community housing providers and private builders to close funding gaps and get projects to shovels-in-ground. No open calls right now — future calls depend on the City's budget.
5. Indigenous Funding Stream. A dedicated pot of grants and loans for Indigenous housing organizations. Ties into the City's target of 5,200 new affordable homes for Indigenous people over the plan. First call for applications expected Summer 2026.

Even if you never apply for any of these programs yourself, the RHSP affects your rental market. Here's why.

• More supply means slower rent growth. Toronto's rent problem is a math problem: more people moving in each year than new homes being built. When programs like RHSP unlock 10,000+ new units, that's real weight on the "supply" side of the equation.
• Rent-controlled units stay controlled for 40 years. Unlike private-sector rentals (where rent control basically only limits year-over-year increases, not what the landlord can charge a new tenant), RHSP affordable units have their absolute rent capped by the City. When one tenant moves out, the next tenant pays roughly the same rent.
• New supply usually starts market-rate first. Even in projects with 20% affordable units, the other 80% will lease at open-market rents. So expect new RHSP-supported buildings to first appear as regular market rentals — the affordable slots inside them typically fill through a separate lottery or application process.
• You'll still need a full rental application. Affordable Rental units come with income limits, but the rest of the process (credit check, references, employment letter, deposits) works the same as any Toronto lease.

If you want to know when new RHSP-supported buildings start leasing, or if you're an eligible non-profit or builder who wants to apply, here's how to stay updated:

• Sign up for the City's affordable housing listserv at the Housing Partners page. You'll get notified when Calls for Applications open.
• Check the Access to Housing (Toronto Community Housing) wait-list if you're looking for Rent-Geared-to-Income housing. RGI is separate from Affordable Rental and has its own long wait-list.
• Watch City Council decisions on the HousingTO Plan. Phase 2 of the Purpose-Built Rental stream is being finalized summer 2026 and will define the next big wave.

• "RHSP is the same as rent control." It's not. Ontario rent control (under the Residential Tenancies Act) limits how much a landlord can raise rent on an existing tenant year over year. RHSP caps the actual rent number itself for 40 years — a much stronger protection.
• "I can apply to the RHSP as a renter." No. The program is only for builders, non-profits, and Indigenous housing groups. You apply to the buildings once they're renting, not to the program itself.
• "Affordable Rental means it's low-income only." Not quite. There are income limits, but they're broader than most social housing thresholds. Many working renters — nurses, teachers, hospitality workers, entry-level tech workers — qualify.
• "The affordable units and the market units are separate buildings." Under the RHSP, they're usually mixed in the same building. From the outside you can't tell which is which.
• "This solves Toronto's rent crisis." It helps. But 10,000 units under PBR Phase 2 lands against a city that adds roughly 100,000 new residents a year. Necessary, but not sufficient.