Designing a portable housing benefit

Rethinking solutions to housing unaffordability

Housing affordability is a critical issue with thousands of individuals and families across Ontario and Canada experiencing homelessness or struggling to pay rent. Portable housing benefits offer a timely and responsive solution to the challenges of housing affordability by providing direct financial assistance to low-income renters.

Blueprint conducted research to identify options for an optimal portable housing benefit design that could effectively alleviate housing need for low-income individuals and families. In 2017, in collaboration with housing expert Marion Steele, we analyzed options for designing a provincial housing benefit that would maximize effectiveness and efficiency, while minimizing unintended consequences.

By including data from several sources, we were able to model the benefit’s impact for individuals and families in different circumstances. This work helped inform the proposed benefit design by illustrating potential outcomes, costs, and trade-offs for different design parameters.

We presented the results of our work to the Ontario Income Security Working Groups in the spring of 2017. In their final report, Income Security: A Roadmap for Change, they recommended that the Ontario government introduce a portable housing benefit to assist all low-income people with the cost of housing.

Housing affordability is a critical issue with thousands of individuals and families across Ontario and Canada experiencing homelessness or struggling to pay rent. Portable housing benefits offer a timely and responsive solution to the challenges of housing affordability by providing direct financial assistance to low-income renters.

Blueprint conducted research to identify options for an optimal portable housing benefit design that could effectively alleviate housing need for low-income individuals and families. In 2017, in collaboration with housing expert Marion Steele, we analyzed options for designing a provincial housing benefit that would maximize effectiveness and efficiency, while minimizing unintended consequences.

By including data from several sources, we were able to model the benefit’s impact for individuals and families in different circumstances. This work helped inform the proposed benefit design by illustrating potential outcomes, costs, and trade-offs for different design parameters.

We presented the results of our work to the Ontario Income Security Working Groups in the spring of 2017. In their final report, Income Security: A Roadmap for Change, they recommended that the Ontario government introduce a portable housing benefit to assist all low-income people with the cost of housing.

Want to learn more? Read our research papers for a wide range of ideas to strengthen career guidance:

August 1, 2022

Responsive Career Pathways Research Brief: Guiding Careers for the Future

The Responsive Career Pathways Research Brief consolidates key findings from our past 9 research papers in partnership with the Future Skills Centre. In this brief, we outline key innovation challenges and opportunities for career guidance services in Canada, and highlight common barriers to accessing these services.

English ReportFrench Report
November 25, 2021

Breaking Down Barriers to Career Development

Career guidance systems could be designed with a whole-of-person lens. This paper considers promising practices in breaking down barriers to career guidance for Canadians.

English ReportFrench Report
November 22, 2021

Navigating Canada’s Messy Education and Training Marketplace for Career-Focused Learning

Adult learners have to navigate an increasingly diverse, fragmented and complex education and training marketplace. This paper assesses options helping Canadian learners navigate their education and learning choices.

English ReportFrench Report
November 19, 2021

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Responsive Career Pathways

The path to accessing career guidance is challenging for racialized people, women and newcomers to Canada. This paper offers opportunities to strengthen our publicly-funded employment systems to effectively address labour market inequity.

English ReportFrench Report
November 17, 2021

The Role of Employers in Responsive Career Pathways

Employers are critical in establishing more responsive career pathways for Canadians. This paper outlines some of the challenges and opportunities employers are facing related to the future of work and skills.

English ReportFrench Report
November 17, 2021

The Career Development Profession in Canada and the Emergence of Online/Multi-Modal Practice Delivery

Career development practitioners have a critical role to play in helping Canadians prepare for the future of work. This paper tackles questions about the role of career development practitioners and the evolution of their practice.

English ReportFrench Report
November 17, 2021

Applying Behavioural Insights to Career Guidance

Offering forward-looking, customized, high-quality and accessible career guidance to a wide range of Canadians is possible. This paper identifies behavioural and motivational barriers to accessing career guidance and offers a promising path ahead.

English ReportFrench Report
November 17, 2021

Use of Technology and Tools in Responsive Career Pathways

The role and use of technologies that help individuals and career practitioners navigate career pathways are rapidly evolving. This paper outlines potential ways responsive career pathways can be enabled by technology.

English ReportFrench Report
November 16, 2021

Glossary of Terms

This document provides consistent definitions for the terms that are applied across all of the research papers for the Responsive Career Pathways initiative.

English ReportFrench Report
November 16, 2021

A Roadmap for Change: Building Responsive Career Pathways in a Post-Pandemic World

This paper offers considerations for strengthening and aligning our careers and employment systems to better serve Canadians across their career trajectory.

English ReportFrench Report
November 15, 2021

Labour Market Information in Responsive Career Pathways

Finding ways to make labour market information accessible and useful for service providers and individuals is key for creating more responsive career pathways.

English ReportFrench Report

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