Your Board needs to establish a policy outlining the eligibility and selection process for your development. The policy should meet your operating agreement requirements, and be easy to administer and explain to applicants.

The criteria you establish for selecting residents will set priorities for deciding which people to house from the list of eligible applicants, and ensure subsidized housing is given to people who need this support. Selection criteria should be:

Consistently applied to all applicants.
Targeted to meet local housing needs.
Objective, documented, and defensible.
Non-discriminatory and meet the legal requirements of the Human Rights Code and the Residential Tenancy Act or Co-operative Association Act .

Application Process
Applicants will need to complete an application form that gathers basic information to determine if they qualify for subsidized housing. For example:

Is their income below the Housing Income Limits?
Do they meet the residency requirements established for this development?
Do they meet the target group as outlined in your operating agreement?

If your housing development includes market or non-Rent-Geared-to-Income units, click here for information on marketing those units.

Centralized Applicant Databases

Some housing providers elect to join The Housing Registry or the Supportive Housing Registration Service rather than manage their own application process. Housing providers who elect to utilize one of these centralized applicant databases continue to be responsible for applicant selection following their own resident selection procedures, while freeing up valuable staff resources as they no longer need to process and update applicant information on an ongoing basis.