Addiction support, housing shortages and homelessness remain unsolved issues in the Rainy River district despite years of efforts by social welfare agencies, but a recent report is shedding new light on previously undiscovered parts of the conversation.
The report, co-sponsored by the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) Ontario and the Northern Ontario Service Deliverers Association (NOSDA), suggests that under current conditions homelessness in Northern Ontario will more than double by 2035.
That is “obviously placing increasing pressure on emergency departments, shelters, corrections and local labour markets,” Charlene Strain, CEO of Fort Frances branch of the CMHA, told The Times.
“Analysis in the report demonstrates that investing in earlier intervention combined with housing across the continuum, and operating funding for health and housing retention, will lead to faster stabilisation and fewer people entering homelessness. Investing in the integration of housing and health infrastructure supports the North region’s $34.6-billion economy.”
About $435 million of that would be needed to sufficiently fund an undertaking to integrate health, homelessness and housing, Strain said—roughly equivalent to 1.3 cents for every dollar circulating in the economy.
“I think the important thing to take away is that it’s about balance, and it’s not about just addressing the individuals that are currently involved in chronic homelessness. It’s about investing money in the right place, it’s a balanced approach” Strain said.
Social agencies are targeting prevention and intervention to help people who are chronically underhoused find accommodations that have mental health and addictions support.
“It includes a holistic approach,” Strain said. “So, putting more investment into emergency rent banks—those short term supports. It’s putting investment into case management services like the different CMHA branches, and investing in [Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment, also known as] HART hubs.”
Homelessness has surged across Northern Ontario, rising more than 100 per cent in just a few years and outpacing the provincial trend. Municipal leaders and regional studies warn that this rapid growth is straining emergency rooms, policing budgets, mental health services and local shelters—systems already stretched thin in smaller northern communities.
Research from the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness and the Wellesley Institute shows that chronic homelessness costs the public system between $55,000 and $135,000 per person annually and applying those models to Northern Ontario’s rising homeless population suggests the region is now absorbing between $150 million and $400 million a year in related emergency, policing, shelter and health‑care costs. The Northern Policy Institute and the Association of Municipalities of Ontario have both warned that these pressures are growing at an unsustainable pace.
Economists and northern mayors now describe homelessness as a direct threat to the region’s economic stability. Employers are struggling to attract and retain workers, while visible homelessness and overburdened public systems make communities less competitive for investment.
Strain thinks the public knows about homelessness anecdotally, but is missing the data that helps to illustrate just how dire the situation is in Northwestern Ontario.
“Obviously there are more people on the streets,” Strain said. “But I don’t know if people realise that the North has increased by 37.3 per cent in one year, compared to just over seven per cent for the rest of the province.”
“We have a lack of housing stock; We have a lack of resources; it’s not just about creating new places to live. Studies show that if we approach it in a holistic manner, where we’re providing support to everybody across the continuum, it’ll lead to better community wellness.”
It will also drive the economy, she said, adding to the workforce in a region stretched for skilled and unskilled labour. There is an additional, mostly invisible pressure on resources in Northern Ontario due to the overuse of emergency room visits and incarceration related to mental health issues that stem directly from a lack of community-based resources.
“This report indicates that by funding community Mental Health and Addictions case management, [Assertive Community Treatment, or] ACT teams, HART hubs, Rapid Access Addiction Medicine (RAAM) clinics, people can get the care in the community where they live and work, rather than having to attend the ER where it’s a higher cost and puts strain on the healthcare system,” Strain said. “In the North we have housing shortages. We have long wait times to get into supportive housing, or rent-geared-to-income-housing, and we also have limited access to Health and Mental Health services.”
That makes it harder to attract, retain and stabilize workers, particularly in small and rural communities. Northern Ontario plays a critical role in the natural resources, mining and mineral development sectors and there need to be enough housing for workers in those areas.
Strain suggests that opioid-related addictions and deaths are higher in the mining, oil-and-gas and construction industries, all of which are key players in the expansion of health and housing services outlined in the report.
“Housing investments that are not paired with mental health and addiction supports obviously underperform and generate higher downstream costs,” Strain said.
“If you have higher rates of opioid-poisoning and opioid-use amongst construction and mining, we have the supports that go with it. It’s a whole balancing thing. We address all the issues that come along with housing. People don’t live in housing in a vacuum. They have health needs. They have social needs.”
“Even here in Fort Frances, with the mine coming in, we saw an increase in the cost of housing. People who come here to work in different industries have to be able to have access to primary care. They have to have access to mental health and addictions care.”
In addition to jobs, workers need access to social supports and community-based care so they can stay healthy and contribute to the economy, Strain said. Waitlists in Northern Ontario for supportive housing can be years long and there is a shortage of culturally relevant supports for Indigenous communities.
“There is a distinct shortage of support across the board, the different facets of a person’s identity and experiences only compound the risks,” Strain said. “It’s not just stigmatising for one group of people, it’s for everybody throughout their lifespan and through every economic status.”
Community housing waitlists in Northern Ontario grew to 13,104 in 2025 from 8,855 in 2018, a 48 per cent increase, Strain noted.
“The average wait time in Northern Ontario is three to five years, and some communities report a waitlist of over 10 years. When you’re on a waitlist, then it increases the risk of crisis, ending up hospitalized, and chronic homelessness, especially for people living with mental health or substance use challenges,” Strain said.
“It’s hard to attract new people to come here when we don’t have housing. It’s hard to leave people out of the state of being houseless because there’s nowhere for them to go. They are waiting on a waitlist for years. The high cost of living, the cost of groceries, it’s just the tipping point for people who are on the verge of homelessness. It’s a whole system approach and support needs to be holistic.”
