Housing

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Housing

The BC Housing Program aims at providing affordable and safe housing for low-income families, and individuals. It can include various helpful measures to help an individual with rental assistance. These programs aim to address the shortage of affordable housing and improve living conditions for those most in need.

The programs we provide is to help you with the rental assistance, BC housing and Safer applications. We apply, gather all the necessary documents, submit, and follow up for you.

Rental Assistance Program (RAP)

This program helps low-income workers with their monthly rent payments.

Requirements:

Some, or all, of your household income is from a job
You have a total before-tax annual household income of $40,000 or less
You have at least one or more dependent children. A dependent child is unmarried, a stepchild, adopted child or legal ward, mainly supported by you.
Dependent children are:
- under 19 years of age, or
- under 25 years of age and are full-time students at a secondary school, university, or vocational institute. Education providers must be a recognized place of study that grants diplomas, certificates, or degrees, or
- Of any age, because of a mental or physical disability as defined by Canada Revenue Agency.
You have less than $100,000 in assets.
You file an annual income tax return.
More than 30 per cent of your household income goes towards household rent. Or you pay pad rental for a manufactured home or trailer that you own and occupy.
You lived in British Columbia for the full 12 months before the date of application.
You meet the program residency requirements.

Use the calculator below to find out how much you could qualify for:

https://www.bchousing.org/housing-assistance/rental-assistance-programs/rap-safer-calculator

BC Housing

Subsidized housing is a long-term housing program low-income families who are permanent residence of British Columbia.

Let us help bring you closer to your happily ever after.

Eligibility:

Minimum two people in a family including one dependent child.
A dependent child is someone who under 19 years of age and is unmarried, stepchild, or adopted child.
For dependents under 25 years of age, they must be in full-time school that provides a recognized diploma, certificate or degree.
For dependents of any age, they should be recognized ad mental or physically impaired.
Please note: In the Housing Registry, some providers may have different criteria about what constitutes a dependent child.
Be a Senior— a single person aged 55 or older, or a couple where at least one person is 55 or older.
People with disabilities— those who can live independently and are in receipt of a recognized disability pension or are considered disabled for income tax purposes.
Single people and couples— you are a single person, or a couple, with a low income and homeless, or at risk of homelessness. In addition, you do not meet the definitions of seniors or people with disabilities.

Residency Requirements:

Canadian citizen
Individual lawfully admitted into Canada for permanent residence
Refugee sponsored by the Government of Canada
Individual who has applied for refugee status

Household Income

To be eligible for subsidized housing, the applicant’s gross household income must be below certain income limits, as established by the Housing Income Limits (HILs) are determined by BC Housing from time to time, and represent the income required to pay the average market rent for an appropriately sized unit in the private market. Average market rents are derived from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s Annual Rent Market Survey

Exceptions:

Household assets must less than $100,000. This includes, stocks, bonds, term deposits, mutual funds, cash, real estate equity, business equity, and GICs.
Applicants from households with income over the HILs can be considered if the applicant is applying for developments with market rents or low end of market units.
The Senior’s Rental Housing program has different income* limits based on your location in the province.
- Lower Mainland – $58,000
- Southern BC – $57,000
- Vancouver Island – $57,000
- Northern BC – $47,000

*The income limit may be slightly lower in developments where the market rent is capped.

Over the income limit? Additional units are available for moderate income seniors or persons with disabilities. See Affordable Rental Housing.

Housing Listing:

Vancouver

North and West Vancouver

Burnaby and New West

Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, Port Moody, Maple Ridge, Pitt Meadows

Zone 4 – Families

Shelter Aid for Elderly Renters (SAFER)

This program is designed to help make rent affordable for BC seniors with low to moderate incomes. SAFER provides monthly payments to subsidize rents for seniors aged 60 or over.

Eligibility:

You are age 60 or older.
You lived in BC the full, 12-month period before submitting your application.
You, and your spouse you share a home with, meet Canadian citizenship requirements:  
- Individuals with private sponsorship that has broken down
- People who applied for refugee status
- Individuals legally in Canada as permanent residents, not under sponsorship
- Canadian citizens not under sponsorship
You pay more than 30% of your gross, before tax, monthly household income towards rent for your home. If you live in a trailer, this includes pad rental (manufactured home) that you own and live in.

Use the calculator below to find out how much you could qualify for:

https://www.bchousing.org/housing-assistance/rental-assistance-programs/rap-safer-calculator

Resources for websites:

BC Housing: https://www.bchousing.org/housing-assistance/rental-housing/subsidized-housing

SAFER: https://www.bchousing.org/housing-assistance/rental-assistance-programs/SAFER

Rental Assistance (RAP): https://www.bchousing.org/housing-assistance/rental-assistance-programs/RAP

Housing Listing: https://www.bchousing.org/housing-assistance/rental-housing/housing-listings/housing-listings-pdfs