New report calls for national housing benefit to address housing crisis
Maytree report offers detailed proposal for permanent housing support modelled on Manitoba’s proven Rent Assist program
With the Canada Housing Benefit set to expire in 2028, putting as many as 330,000 households at risk of losing housing support, Maytree today released a comprehensive blueprint for a permanent Canada Housing Benefit System that would consolidate the country’s fragmented patchwork of provincial and territorial programs into a single, coherent national framework.
The Blueprint for a Canada Housing Benefit System: Architecture and Design Features shows how federal, provincial, and territorial governments can work together to replace this fragmented system with a permanent, Canada-wide solution modelled on Manitoba’s proven Rent Assist program. The report proposes a portable, predictable housing benefit that follows renters wherever they live, responds to income changes, and ensures no one is left behind when the Canada Housing Benefit expires.
“The Canada Housing Benefit System is nation-building infrastructure,” says Sam DiBellonia, report author and policy manager at Maytree. “We have a proven model, a policy window, and an urgent deadline.”
The proposed system would:
- Provide portable, predictable monthly support where recipients contribute 30 per cent of income and benefits cover the gap of up to 80 per cent of median market rent.
- Offer two pathways: tax-based delivery (like the Canada Child Benefit) for existing renters, and social assistance intake for urgent needs.
- Share costs between federal and provincial/territorial governments, with provinces administering benefits.
- Credit jurisdictions like Manitoba that already provide strong housing benefits.
- Cost an estimated $3-4 billion annually while reducing other societal costs created by the crisis of homelessness and unaffordable rental housing.
The report emphasizes that building more housing takes years, but income support works today. Manitoba’s experience shows housing benefits reduce evictions and move people out of homelessness while supply catches up.
Maytree’s report includes detailed architecture recommendations, benefit design parameters, and implementation pathways – providing policymakers with a ready-to-use framework before the 2028 deadline.