50+ Senior Housing in Ontario

50+ senior housing in Ontario means age-restricted housing for adults 50 or 55 and over with no care included: adult lifestyle and land-lease communities of bungalows and manufactured homes, seniors' apartment buildings, life-lease buildings and seniors' housing co-ops. Residents rent or own their home and arrange home care on their own if they need it later. Provinces regulate the age restriction under their human rights and tenancy laws, which allow seniors-only housing.

It depends on the type. In a 55+ community in Ontario you buy the home, often for less than a comparable house, and pay a monthly site or amenity fee. Market-rent seniors' apartments cost about what other apartments in Ontario do. Subsidized seniors' apartments charge rent geared to income, about 25 to 30 percent of it, through the provincial or municipal housing office. Life-lease homes take a lump sum plus a monthly fee, and most of the lump sum is returned when you leave.

Apply through the housing office that serves Ontario: in British Columbia, BC Housing; in Alberta, the local housing management body; in Saskatchewan and Manitoba, the provincial housing corporation; in Ontario, the municipal housing access centre; in Quebec, the office d'habitation; in Atlantic Canada, the provincial housing agency. Rent is set at about 25 to 30 percent of income. Waiting lists are long in many places, so apply as early as you can and ask about more than one building.

Read the lease or purchase agreement: the land-lease term and annual increases, resale rules, what the monthly fee covers, and who maintains roads, water and the clubhouse. Confirm the age rule (50+, 55+ or 65+) and whether a younger spouse or family member can live with you. Then think ahead: how close are groceries, doctors, transit and family in Ontario, and could home care or a residence with care be arranged nearby if you need it later.