$11 billion needed to solve Ontario’s homelessness crisis: report

The Association of Municipalities of Ontario has calculated that $11 billion is needed to remedy the province’s homelessness crisis.

“Municipalities Under Pressure: The Growing Human and Financial Cost of Ontario’s Homelessness Crisis,” a report unveiled by the AMO on Thursday, highlighted the tipping point Ontario is experiencing as 80,000 Ontarians were recorded as being unhoused in 2024.

The association represents Ontario’s 444 municipalities and works to support and enhance strong and effective municipal government across the province.

Data collected on behalf of the AMO cited that if provincial authorities do not engage in a major course correction, the number of those left unhoused in Ontario could triple in the next decade — reaching over 290,000 by 2035.

“Too many people are stuck in a homeless cycle because our homeless response system is broken and poorly funded,” said AMO president Robin Jones when addressing members of the media. “As a result, municipal spending on housing and homelessness has greatly increased recently — doubling since 2020 to almost $2 billion in 2024.”

Projections from the AMO’s report — which utilized data from numerous provincial municipalities — found a financial fix that, if applied correctly, could mend the province’s unhoused crisis within 10 years.

The AMO concluded that if chronic homelessness is to be remedied, $11 billion over a 10-year period would need to be drip-fed into affordable housing incentives throughout northern, rural and municipal Ontario.

Concerning the $ 4.1 billion already contributed by provincial programs in 2024, Jones believes it’s a drop in the bucket, telling INsauga.com, “It’s very genuine that we get an investment from (the provincial) government on these issues, and we are very appreciative but it’s not enough — it’s a down payment — and now we have to figure out what the rest of the mortgage looks like.”

The report also shed light on the 1,400 homeless encampments in Ontario and the massive disparity impacting the province’s homeless, as 25 per cent of Ontario’s unhoused are youths (ages 24-under) and 45 per cent of Indigenous individuals are disproportionally affected by the crisis overall.

Concerning refugees and asylum seekers, since 2020, the AMO reported the number of emergency newcomers to Canada experiencing homelessness has increased by 600 per cent.

Data also revealed that in Ontario overall, the number of chronically homeless immigrants has doubled in 2024.

More information on the AMO’s report can be found on the organization’s website.