HOUSING AND HOMELESSNESS NEEDS ASSESSMENT FOR ST. THOMAS AND ELGIN COUNTY: Prepared by Tim Welch Consulting Inc., Lapointe Consulting and Deb Ballak Prepared for St. Thomas-Elgin Ontario Works Department, City of St. Thomas May, 2013 Table of Contents PREFACE ............................................................................................................................................1 1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................. 17 2 POPULATION AND HOUSEHOLD CHARACTERISTICS ........................................................ 19 2.1 Population Growth ............................................................................................................................ 20 2.2 Age Distribution ................................................................................................................................ 22 2.3 Household Growth ............................................................................................................................ 22 2.4 Household Sizes Declining ................................................................................................................. 23 2.5 Household Types ............................................................................................................................... 26 3 EMPLOYMENT PROFILES ............................................................................................................... 28 3.1 Employment in Elgin and Place of Work ........................................................................................... 28 3.2 Labour Force in St. Thomas and Elgin County ................................................................................... 28 3.3 Household Growth ............................................................................................................................ 31 3.4 Household Sizes Declining ................................................................................................................. 32 4 HOUSING STOCK ............................................................................................................................ 33 4.1 Housing Stock by Dwelling Type ....................................................................................................... 33 4.2 Ownership and Rental Rates ............................................................................................................. 37 4.3 Limited Purpose-Built Rental Housing .............................................................................................. 38 4.4 Rental Vacancy Rates in St. Thomas ................................................................................................. 39 4.5 Tenure by Age of Household Maintainer .......................................................................................... 40 4.6 Condition of Housing Stock ............................................................................................................... 42 5 PROJECTED POPULATION AND HOUSING REQUIREMENTS ......................................................... 42 5.1 Population Projections ...................................................................................................................... 42 5.2 Housing Projections .......................................................................................................................... 43 5.3 Projected Distribution ....................................................................................................................... 44 6 HOUSEHOLD INCOME AND HOUSING AFFORDABILITY ............................................................... 45 6.1 Housing Income by Tenure ............................................................................................................... 45 6.2 Rental Housing Costs ......................................................................................................................... 47 6.3 Ownership Housing Costs ................................................................................................................. 48 6.4 Affordable Housing ........................................................................................................................... 51 6.4.1 Type chapter title (level 3) ......................................................................................................... 51 6.4.1 Type chapter title (level 3) ......................................................................................................... 53 6.5 Housing Ownership Housing ............................................................................................................. 56 6.6 Housing Affordability in St. Thomas – Elgin County .......................................................................... 58 7 SOCIAL AND AFFORDABLE HOUSING ............................................................................................ 62 7.1 Social and Affordable Housing Stock ................................................................................................ 62 7.2 Housing Need and Waiting Lists ....................................................................................................... 66 7.3 Municipal Planning Supports for Social and Affordable Housing ..................................................... 68 8 OVERVIEW: DEFINING HOMELESSNESS ........................................................................................ 73 8.1 Shelter Use ........................................................................................................................................ 74 8.2 Social Assistance Recipients .............................................................................................................. 74 8.3 Households with Affordability Problems .......................................................................................... 75 8.4 Youth ................................................................................................................................................. 77 8.5 Food Bank Usage ............................................................................................................................... 77 8.6 Social Housing Waiting List ............................................................................................................... 77 St. Thomas – Elgin County Housing and Homelessness Plan: Needs Assessment Tim Welch Consulting in Association with Lapointe Consulting and Deb Ballak 9 HOMELESSNESS PROGRAMS, SUPPORTS AND SERVICES ............................................................ 79 9.1 Existing Homeless Programs, Supports and Services ........................................................................ 80 9.2 Service Usage Indicators ................................................................................................................... 83 9.3 Evolution of Services (Changes) ........................................................................................................ 86 9.4 Issues and Strengths Identified by Key Informants ........................................................................... 92 10 EMERGENCY HOUSING .................................................................................................................. 99 10.1 Indicators of Usage ....................................................................................................................... 101 10.2 Evolution of Services ..................................................................................................................... 103 10.3 Issues Identified by Key Informants .............................................................................................. 104 11 TRANSITIONAL AND SUPPORTIVE HOUSING .............................................................................. 106 9.1 Existing Homeless Programs, Supports and Services ...................................................................... 109 9.2 Service Usage Indicators ................................................................................................................. 112 9.3 Evolution of Services (Changes) ...................................................................................................... 115 9.4 Issues and Strengths Identified by Key Informants ......................................................................... 118 12 ISSUES IDENTIFIED IN STUDIES AND REPORTS FOR THE HOMELESS AND HOUSING SERVICE DELIVERY SYSTEM ......................................................................................................... 120 APPENDIX A: Glossary of Terms ............................................................................................................... 124 APPENDIX B: Data Tables ......................................................................................................................... 126 St. Thomas – Elgin County Housing and Homelessness Plan: Needs Assessment Tim Welch Consulting in Association with Lapointe Consulting and Deb Ballak List of Tables Table 2.1.1: Population Growth, St. Thomas and Elgin County, 1991 – 2011 ...................................... 19 Table 2.2.1: Age Distribution, St. Thomas/Elgin County, 1991 – 2011 and Ontario, 2011 .................... 20 Table 2.2.2: Age Distribution in Municipalities across St. Thomas/Elgin County, 2011 ........................ 22 Table 2.3.1: Household Growth, St. Thomas, Elgin County and Area Municipalities,