The residential rehabilitation assistance program for persons with disabilities, RRAP-D, provides financial assistance to improve the accessibility of existing properties occupied or intended to be occupied by low-income persons with disabilities. To operationalize this objective, income thresholds for various unit sizes have been developed in all areas of the country to income test clients under the CMHC renovation programs, including RRAP-D.
The income thresholds are based on the median market rent, MMR, for units of different sizes. Given these MMRs, it is possible to compute the minimum annual income required for a household to afford adequate and suitable rental units in a geographic area without spending more than 30% of income. In areas where rental options are non-existent or severely lacking, the annual income required to afford the cost of financing and servicing various sized modest single detached units is utilized. This approach assumes that where there are no rental units, an appropriate housing solution involves the construction of a dwelling.
Depending on the jurisdiction and the applicable federal-provincial-territorial agreements in place, the income thresholds are reviewed on an annual basis or, at a minimum, once every five years. Increases are implemented if they are warranted.