Rental Housing Benefit Act (S.C. 2022, c. 14, s. 3)

Marginal note:Eligibility

• 4 (1) An applicant is eligible to receive a rental housing benefit if

  • (a) they are at least 15 years of age on the reference day;

  • (b) they are alive on the day on which their application is made in accordance with section 5;

  • (c) they are resident in Canada in 2022 for the purposes of the Income Tax Act and their principal residence is, on the reference day, situated in Canada;

  • (d) they — and, if any, their cohabiting spouse or common-law partner — have filed a return of income, as defined in section 122.6 of the Income Tax Act, for 2021 no later than the 120th day after the reference day;

  • (e) they have an adjusted income for 2021 of no more than

    • (i) $35,000, if they

      • (A) have a cohabiting spouse or common-law partner on the reference day,

      • (B) reside on the reference day with a qualified dependant, as defined in section 122.6 of the Income Tax Act, or

      • (C) claimed a deduction for 2021 under subsection 118(1) of that Act, because of paragraph (b) of the description of B in that subsection, and are entitled to that deduction, or

    • (ii) $20,000, in any other case;

  • (f) they — or, if any, their cohabiting spouse or common-law partner — paid, in 2022, rent that is in respect of 2022 for the applicant’s principal residence situated in Canada; and

  • (g) subject to any of subsections (2) to (6) that apply in the circumstances, the total amount of the rent referred to in paragraph (f) is at least 30% of the applicant’s adjusted income for 2021.

• Marginal note:Unspecified amount — board or other services

  (2) If a payment for room and either board or other services is made in respect of a principal residence and it includes an unspecified amount for the board or other services, only 90% of the payment is to be taken into account as rent for the purposes of paragraph (1)(g).

• Marginal note:Separation from cohabiting spouse or common-law partner

  (3) If an applicant had a cohabiting spouse or common-law partner during 2022 but is living separate and apart from them on the reference day, the total amount of rent paid by the applicant to be taken into account for the purposes of paragraph (1)(g) is the total amount of rent paid in 2022 by the applicant.

• Marginal note:Different principal residences

  (4) If the applicant and their cohabiting spouse or common-law partner live in two different principal residences at any point in 2022, the applicant may take into account, for the purposes of paragraph (1)(g), the total amount of the rent paid in 2022 by either of them for both of those principal residences while they were each other’s cohabiting spouse or common-law partner.

• Marginal note:Part-year residents

  (5) For the purposes of determining the applicant’s adjusted income in paragraphs (1)(e) and (g), if a person was non-resident in Canada for the purposes of the Income Tax Act at any time in 2021, the person’s income for the year is deemed to be the amount that would have been the person’s income for the year had the person been resident in Canada throughout the year.

• Marginal note:Bankruptcy

  (6) For the purposes of determining the applicant’s adjusted income in paragraphs (1)(e) and (g), if a person becomes bankrupt in 2021, their income for that year is to include their income for the taxation year that begins on January 1 of 2021.

• Marginal note:Only one cohabiting spouse or common-law partner eligible

  (7) If two applicants who are each other’s cohabiting spouse or common-law partner on the reference day both apply under section 5 for a rental housing benefit and both would, but for this subsection, be eligible for the benefit, only the applicant that the Minister designates is eligible to receive the benefit.