If email were enough, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.

Across Ontario’s social housing sector, email remains the dominant digital communication tool — and for good reason. It’s familiar, it’s free at small volumes, and it creates a written record. But relying on email as your primary (or only) channel for resident communication is a gap that’s becoming harder to justify, particularly as municipal compliance requirements raise the bar on documented, verifiable tenant outreach.

Here’s what the data and the day-to-day reality of housing operations actually tell us.

The Email Reach Problem

The average email open rate across industries sits around 20–40%. In the social housing sector — where resident lists are often outdated, email addresses go unverified for years, and a significant portion of residents are not digitally engaged — it’s reasonable to assume your effective reach is closer to 15–25% on any given message.

That means when you send an email about a scheduled water shutoff, a fire alarm test, or a pest control inspection, you’re potentially reaching fewer than one in four of your households. The rest have no advance notice. And you have no documentation that you tried to reach them.

The residents who most need proactive communication — seniors, newcomers, residents with accessibility needs, residents without stable internet access — are often the ones least likely to receive your emails.

What Email Does Well (And What It Doesn’t)

Email is strong for:

Detailed written notices that require a paper trail — scheduled inspections, policy updates, annual reviews.

Reaching administrators, property managers, and committee contacts who expect formal written communication.

Longer-form content: newsletters, resource guides, welcome packages for new residents.

Compliance documentation — email delivery logs provide timestamps and sent/received records.

Email struggles with:

Time-sensitive urgent alerts — an email sent at 7 AM may not be read until noon, or at all.

Reaching residents without reliable email access or who check infrequently.

Ensuring delivery when resident contact lists are incomplete or outdated.

Communicating visually in shared spaces — a lobby emergency notice in email helps no one walking past.

The Channels That Fill the Gaps

A robust tenant communication strategy doesn’t replace email — it supplements it. Two channels that address exactly what email misses are SMS and digital signage.

SMS: Reach Without the Open-Rate Problem

SMS messages have an open rate of over 90%, typically within 15 minutes of delivery. For urgent, time-sensitive communication — emergency maintenance, same-day service disruptions, security notices — no other channel comes close to that level of immediate reach.

SMS also reaches residents who aren’t email-engaged: older adults who primarily use their phone for calls and texts, newcomers still building digital habits, residents with limited data plans who avoid email apps. In practice, SMS is often the most equitable channel you have.

Digital Signage: Passive Awareness, Zero Dependence on Contact Data

Your lobby screen requires nothing from your residents. No email address. No phone number. No opt-in. Every resident who enters or exits your building sees what’s on that screen — which makes it uniquely valuable for community-wide awareness campaigns, especially when your contact database is incomplete.

Digital signage is also the right tool for sustained visibility. A maintenance notice that disappears from an inbox can remain on your lobby screen for five days before the event and one day after — ensuring that even the most email-avoidant residents see it.

Putting It Together: A Three-Channel Minimum Standard

For Ontario social housing providers navigating RentSafeTO, Hamilton’s Safe Apartment Buildings By-law, or any future municipal communication standards, a three-channel approach — email, SMS, and digital signage — is increasingly the baseline expectation for demonstrated tenant outreach.

💡 Fuse5 Insight:  Housing providers using all three channels consistently report fewer ‘I didn’t know about that’ complaints from residents — reducing conflict, improving trust, and simplifying compliance documentation.

Email does its job. But it was never designed to be the sole communication lifeline between a housing provider and hundreds of residents with diverse needs and digital habits. The providers who recognize that gap — and close it — will be better operators, better communicators, and better positioned when compliance audits come knocking.

Ready to take the next step?

See how Fuse5 combines email, SMS, and digital signage into one platform built for social housing operators. fuse5.ca

Book a free 30-minute discovery call at fuse5.ca or email clinton@fuse5.ca

About Fuse5 Communications

Fuse5 is Ontario’s integrated tenant communication platform built exclusively for social housing providers. Combining digital signage and email into a single solution, Fuse5 helps non-profit housing operators reach every resident, document every communication, and meet the compliance expectations of municipalities across the province. Learn more at fuse5.ca/non-profit