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Ontario is at a tipping point in its homelessness crisis.
This is according to the Association of Ontario Municipalities who released a report this week revealing that more than 80,000 Ontarians were known to be homeless in 2024, which is a 25 per cent increase since 2022.
“Without significant intervention, homelessness in Ontario could double in the next decade, and reach nearly 300,000 people in an economic downturn.” AMO said in a news release Thursday.
“The crisis stems from decades of underinvestment in deeply affordable housing, income support and mental health and addictions treatment, combined with escalating economic pressures on communities.”
The report reveals the unprecedented and growing toll of homelessness on individuals, families, communities, and governments, proposing a focus on long-term housing solutions over “temporary emergency measures and enforcement.”
Bancroft Mayor Paul Jenkins says that municipalities have been lobbying for aid and solutions in the homelessness crisis for years and that while the report addressed many aspects of the homelessness crisis, it missed some things in addressing ‘extremely complex’ issues.
“While the report covers a lot it, I don’t think it covers everything… the problem is compounded when you get to rural and smaller areas because we don’t have the developers up here, we don’t have the people who can take the risk. So there’s a few things that weren’t in that report that I think need to be done that will help our areas more than others.”
Jenkins said one way to help is getting back to individual units being subsidized so more private landlords can ‘get back in the game’.
“So many have abandoned it because of all the issues with the Residential Tenancies Act, formerly the Landlord Tenant Board. Those (units) can make a big difference in a small area. With a lot of those people dropped out, now we’re relying on bigger projects.”
Jenkins noted homelessness is under provincial jurisdiction and funding comes from the provincial government through Hastings County.
AMO says they are urging provincial and federal governments to take “significant, long-term action on affordable housing, mental health and addictions services, and income supports to fix homelessness and improve communities’ economic foundations and quality of life.”