According to a joint press report from the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, Ontario Municipal Social Services Association and the Northern Ontario Service Deliverers Association the province is at a “tipping point in its homelessness crisis.” Moreover, the report suggests that known homelessness has more than doubled since 2016, and estimates that known homelessness could grow exponentially from there. Furthermore, based on their own data collection, the majority of funding for homelessness initiatives come from municipalities. So, the report suggests “it will not be possible to scale up the infrastructure needed” without significant investment from all levels of government.
“Ontario’s homelessness crisis has deepened significantly over the past decade, but the increasing proportion of chronic homelessness—people in prolonged or repeated episodes of homelessness—is a warning sign that our already unacceptable housing problem is on a trajectory to get worse,” reads the release. “In Northern Ontario, known homelessness has risen by an estimated 204 per cent since 2016, growing from 1,771 people to 5,377 people in 2024.
By 2035, projections estimate that known homelessness in the north could climb to between 10,674 and 26,633 people.”
Also, the report suggests Northern communities face a specific set of challenges in dealing with homelessness.
“Rural communities also face challenges. Smaller communities often lack shelters, transitional housing, or specialized support, forcing individuals and families to either travel long distances to service hubs or remain in precarious situations,” reads the report. “The growing pressures of Ontario’s homelessness crisis are felt most acutely at the local level. Municipal governments are tasked with responding to immediate needs while trying to deal with infrastructure gaps that limit their ability to address long-term solutions. Communities are deeply affected, with individuals and families enduring the trauma of homelessness and neighbourhoods saying that long-term homelessness and people living outdoors are unacceptable, demanding urgent action from governments.”
While this demands urgent action from governments of all levels, municipalities provide the majority of the funding according to data collection from service managers.
“Municipal contributions accounted for 51.5 per cent of the total reported funding across all three levels of government,” reads the report. “While the data in this report and funding analysis includes expenditures reported by municipal service managers, It does not account for the full scope of funding directed to homelessness and housing in Ontario.”
Still, this underscores the critical role of municipalities in addressing local homelessness and housing issues.
“In housing, municipalities have increasingly stepped in to address mounting pressures,” reads the report. “However, the scale of this issue – and the infrastructure required to solve it – extends far beyond what municipalities alone can sustainably fund. Chronic homelessness – a flashing red signal for system strain – remains proportionally high and growing.”
Growth that simply will not be addressed within the current budgetary constraints.
“Without significant investment and coordintation across all three levels of government, it will not be possible to scale up the infrastructure needed to create a system where homelessness is rare, brief, and non-recurring.”
