TORONTO, ON – November 12, 2025 – ODSP Action Coalition is sounding the alarm over the devastating impact that Ontario’s proposed Bill 60, the Fighting Delays, Building Faster Act, 2025, will have on people with disabilities receiving the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP), 70% of whom rely on precarious private market rentals to survive.
“Bill 60 is a direct attack on the most vulnerable Ontarians at the worst possible time,” said Ron Anicich, co-chair with the ODSP Action Coalition. “While this bill is being sold as a way to build housing faster, it will actually make it far easier to evict people with disabilities from their homes and push thousands more of us onto the streets.”
Recent data obtained by The Trillium through freedom of information requests reveals a shocking trend: the number of Ontario’s Disability Support Program recipients who are homeless has increased. This crisis is escalating despite government claims that tying ODSP increases to inflation has addressed affordability concerns.
The reality paints a different picture. With maximum ODSP rates at just $1,408 per month for a single person, recipients face impossible choices in a rental market where affordable housing is increasingly out of reach. Once someone becomes homeless, they lose their $599 monthly shelter allowance, making it virtually impossible to secure housing again.
Buried within this sprawling omnibus bill are provisions that will devastate ODSP recipients who are already struggling to maintain housing:
– Shorter eviction timelines: Reduced time to address rent arrears will leave vulnerable ODSP recipients with less opportunity to access rent banks, legal assistance, or gather support from family and friends during financial crises.
– Barriers to raising maintenance or other issues (e.g. harrassment): Tenants will be required to provide advance notice of all issues they intend to raise at Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) hearings, making it harder for people with disabilities to navigate an already complex tribunal system and limiting their ability to raise serious maintenance and repair complaints.
– Proposals to end indefinite leases: The government has signaled its interest in allowing alternate options to allow for lease agreements to expire and landlords to control who occupies their units and for how long. This would eliminate the security of tenure and effectively end the flimsy rent controls we currently have.
These changes are being promoted as ways to “reduce delays” at the Landlord and Tenant Board, but in reality they simply tilt the playing field further in favor of landlords while making it easier and faster to evict tenants who cannot afford market rents.
“When you’re living on $1,408 a month and struggling with a disability, you’re already choosing between food and medication,” said Anicich, who is himself an ODSP recipient. “Bill 60 will make it easier for landlords to evict us and harder for us to fight back. The government says this bill is about building faster, but there’s nothing in here that will create a single unit of affordable housing.”
The Association of Municipalities of Ontario reported that over 81,500 Ontarians were experiencing homelessness in 2024. Advocates warn that Bill 60 will only worsen this emergency.
“You can’t work when you’re homeless, when you don’t know where your next meal is coming from,” said Anicich. “Some ODSP recipients are already sleeping outdoors. Bill 60 will push even more of us over the edge.”
Premier Doug Ford has responded to the homelessness crisis by telling people living in encampments to “get off your A-S-S and start working,” but this ignores the reality that many homeless social assistance recipients simply cannot afford housing on povertylevel income support rates.
ODSP Action Coalition is calling on Premier Doug Ford to remove the Residential Tenancies Act amendments from Bill 60 (Schedule 12). The coalition is urging all Ontarians to contact their MPPs and demand:
– Removal of all Bill 60 changes that weaken tenant protections
– Meaningful increases to ODSP rates that reflect actual housing costs
– Maintenance of indefinite leases and rent control protections
– Investment in affordable, accessible housing for people with disabilities
“People with disabilities deserve safe, stable, affordable housing,” said Anicich. “Instead, this government is making it easier to evict us and harder to survive. They call it the ‘Fighting Delays, Building Faster Act,’ but it won’t build a single affordable home. It will just create more homelessness faster.”
About ODSP Action Coalition:
ODSP Action Coalition is led by people with disabilities on ODSP and advocates for the
rights and dignity of Ontarians receiving disability support. The coalition works to raise
awareness about poverty among people with disabilities and push for policy changes
that ensure adequate income support and accessible housing.
For media inquiries, please contact:
Trevor Manson
ODSP Action Coalition
odspactioncoalition@gmail.com