We're not opposed to housing first. We're saying that it is serving just a portion of the need out there. A lot of people who are not on the street or not in shelters also need housing. There are people who are paying far too much of their income on their rent. There's a gap there between what they pay and what they can afford to pay. CMHC says it should not be more than 30% of our total household income. If we get up to 50%, we're at dire risk of losing our housing. For sure housing first is part of the tool box of addressing our housing affordability and homelessness crisis in Canada, but it's not the only one.
In terms of what we particularly focus on with regard to homelessness prevention, for example, our clinic runs a tenant duty counsel program in Ontario. We provide summary advice and sometimes representation to tenants who are mostly at the landlord and tenant board because they're facing eviction for arrears. In many cases, the only thing we can do is maybe negotiate for a repayment plan if the housing may be sustainable. Maybe there's a short-term financial gap, etc. In most cases, it's just not going to work. There's just not enough money to be able to pay for all their basic needs. This is why a housing benefit might be an appropriate approach, but we don't think that alone is the solution. We'd rather have that housing benefit tied to new construction of rental housing so that people can actually afford to go into the homes.
The affordable housing that's being built under the investment in affordable housing program is not affordable to the people on the waiting list who are homeless unless an additional rental subsidy is available. We're talking about the most vulnerable people in our communities here. People who are eligible for those investment in affordable housing rents have to make about $40,00 a year. As an example, half of the tenants in TCHC have incomes of less than $15,000 a year. The majority of the tenants in TCHC are recipients of social assistance.
Do you know what's really scary? The majority of people who are on Ontario Works are living in the private rental sector. Their shelter allowance component of social assistance is not enough to pay for average rents in virtually every community across Ontario.