1946 Social Housing originated due to the demand of returning soldiers from World War II and their families. Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), a Federal agency undertook administration.

1950s and 1960s - Public Housing evolved which was owned and operated by the CMHC.

As a Crown Corporation, Ontario Housing Corporation (OHC) was established in 1964 as a landlord to provide and manage adequate and affordable housing. OHC was an agency of the Government of Ontario, established under the Ontario Housing Corporation Act and was funded through rental income and subsidies from the provincial and federal government.  OHC gave policy direction, managed the budget and funded Local Housing Authorities (LHA). LHA’s acted on behalf of the OHC as local delivery agents for Public Housing.  Both OHC and LHA’s appointed a Board of Directors which consisted of members who were appointed by a provincial Order-In-Council on the recommendation of the Minister of Municipal Affairs & Housing .

1970s - Co-op Housing and Non-Profit Housing evolved, still funded by CMHC, the emphasis was on combining low and moderate-income households to improve the social environments.

1985-1989  - The Ontario government became involved with funding the building of non-profits and co-ops through the Ministry of Housing.

By 1993 - the Federal Government had stopped construction of new social housing and the Provincial Government followed suit by 1995.

January 1997, the province announced that the administration and funding for social housing, would be transferred to municipalities (CMSM - Consolidated Municipal Service Managers), as local governments know best how to meet the needs of their residents.

January 1998, CMSM’s began paying the costs of social housing. In exchange, the province took 50 per cent of education costs off the residential property tax, giving municipalities the tax room to meet the cost of new service responsibilities.

December 2000, the province passed the Social Housing Reform Act which authorized the transfer of social housing to CMSM’s.

Phase I of the Social Housing Business Transfer, public housing ownership was transferred to Local Housing Corporations which were formerly LHA’s of which were established on January 1, 2001.  At the same time, Service Managers became the owners of the new corporation and assumed administrative responsibility for public housing.

Phase II of the transfer, the non-profit and co-operative housing portfolio will follow within 18 months, staggered according to the readiness of the CMSM, and will be completed no later than June 2002.

Provincial standards will protect those in need of housing assistance. CMSM’s will be responsible for:

	access to social housing and income testing
	managing the financial risks
	the province will however retain the contingent liability for mortgage default.
	The province will still be involved in mortgage management, risk management, reporting to the federal government, legislative compliance and consent and policy.
	The legislation creates a municipally controlled statutory corporation, known as the Social Housing Services Corporation, to undertake investment, insurance and benchmarking functions on a province-wide basis.