CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — Three days after announcing a $250 subsidy for renters, the province has expanded the program to a $1,000 program and has clarified that the program will include students.
The temporary rental assistance benefit will offer a $1,000 payment over three months to assist renters who have suffered financial losses due to the coronavirus (COVID-19 strain) pandemic. The rental subsidy will be offered for households of renters and will be paid directly to landlords. Tenants, who are responsible for applying for the program, will be given a $500 rental subsidy for April, a $250 rental subsidy for May and a further $250 rental subsidy for June.
The program was initially announced Monday. As of Tuesday, the province’s website stated the benefit would only provide a $250 per month benefit per household. Staff at the Department of Social Development and Housing had also told potential applicants the benefit would not be available before May 1.
Hudson had faced criticism about the rental subsidy. Some tenants had been dismayed the program would not be immediately available at the beginning of April. Two executives of the UPEI student union had said details of the program, including eligibility, had been “shrouded in mystery”, in a recent op-ed.
But on Thursday, Ernie Hudson, minister of social development and housing, said applications can now be made online for the program. He said funds should begin to be dispersed by next week.
Hudson acknowledged that details of the program had changed since Monday.
"What I had heard, what my colleagues had heard was that there was a need for this. So, with that, there was an announcement made even in advance of having the exact criteria," Hudson said.
"It was important to get that information out as soon as possible."
April 2, 2020 – COVID-19 update:
The subsidy is intended as an immediate measure for individuals who have already suffered a financial loss, such as a job loss, due to the pandemic. Eligible individuals must have applied for either federal employment insurance benefits or the recently announced Canada Emergency Response Benefit, must live on P.E.I. and must not be receiving other rental subsidy programs. Post-secondary students will also be eligible for the rental subsidy, even if they are not eligible for the two federal programs. Self-employed individuals are also eligible.
"Those individuals who are eligible for this program will see money start to flow immediately while we wait for the federal programs to roll out,” Hudson said in a media briefing Thursday afternoon.
“We know your income will not be 100 per cent of what it was pre-pandemic, and that is why we're stepping up."
Emma Drake, president of the UPEI student union, said it was good news to see students will be able to access the rental subsidy program.
But she said the focus of the subsidy on households, rather than individuals, could mean the funds are not focused on those most in need. Some students may have a higher income than their roommates, she said.
Drake also said the direct payment to landlords may leave out some students. Some may not be able to submit a rental agreement with a landlord.
“Students who are couch-surfing would not be able to access financial support from this program due to not being ‘officially’ being on a rental agreement. Additionally, this would leave many students who are subletting ineligible,” Drake said.
Hudson said the decision to offer the subsidy to households, as well as the decision to pay it directly to landlords, was made to ensure payments could assist renters as quickly as possible.
He also said the $1,000 payment would be offered to tenants even if only one member of a household needs it.
"If one of the tenants is impacted, then they would be eligible if they meet the criteria," Hudson said.
During Thursday's briefing, Transportation Minister Steven Myers said the province is also launching a special situations fund for people who can’t qualify for other support programs.
The $1-million special situations fund will give Islanders who don’t qualify for any other program up to $1,000 if they have experience urgent income loss.
For more on the temporary rental assistance benefit, click here.
