Whitby calls for homelessness, health and housing supports following expected elections

With federal and provincial elections expected in 2025, the Town of Whitby has called on all involved parties to offer more financial support to municipalities, primarily to address homelessness, healthcare, housing and a service budget shortfall.

In a statement on Jan. 9, Whitby said its rapidly growing population and the recently increased financial burdens placed on municipalities have created new challenges for local-level government.

“With provincial and federal elections anticipated this year, the Town is encouraging those levels of government to continue to work together and share costs to support solutions to challenges faced by all municipalities. This collective effort would also help Whitby meet its Community Strategic Plan’s vision of Whitby as an exceptional place to live, work, and explore,” the Town wrote.

Of primary importance, Whitby says, is an increased effort to address the homelessness epidemic gripping the province. According to a lengthy report from the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, more than 81,000 people are currently homeless across Ontario.

This represents a 25 per cent increase since 2022. “These numbers demonstrate systemic failures that extend beyond housing, reflecting deep gaps in healthcare, mental health services, justice systems and more,” AMO found.

Typically, most people who become homeless do so for brief periods only once in their lives. However, cases of “chronic homelessness,” where an individual is living unsheltered for more than six months, have tripled in recent years. Chronic homelessness now accounts for more than half of all cases.

If not addressed, AMO predicts homelessness in the province to triple by 2035 leaving more than 294,000 people to live on the street in Ontario. This equals slightly less than the current population of Windsor or 88 per cent of the population of Oshawa, for comparison. If compared directly, this expected homeless population would rank as the eighth-largest municipal population in Ontario.

AMO concluded this ongoing growth is because “too many people are entering homelessness and too few people are exiting homelessness because of a lack of
affordable, appropriate options…The reasons why too few people are exiting homelessness are clear: Ontario does not have enough housing spaces, and
it does not have the right mix of space.”

Part of Whitby’s advocacy includes a push to develop more diverse housing options, such as increasing height and density, new inclusionary zoning regulations, expanding the number of residential housing units on residential lots and more.

So far, the municipal level of government has taken most of the funding burden to address these concerns. Of the $4.5 billion spent on addressing homelessness in Ontario last year, towns like Whitby contributed more than 65 per cent of all funding. The federal and provincial governments contributed to the other 34 per cent.

“The scale of the issue—and the infrastructure required to solve it—extends far beyond what municipalities alone can sustainably fund,” AMO found.

To better address these concerns Whiby has pledged to “work closely with community organizations and other levels of government to provide sustainable solutions to this challenge.”

Additionally, Whitby is facing funding challenges beyond homelessness as well. These include “aging infrastructure, the need to invest in Council-approved initiatives like the Whitby Sports Complex, and a new fire hall and 20 new firefighters to support growth in the community.”

However, the province has increasingly left municipalities to fund such endeavours by themselves in the last few years. Changes from the Ontario government, such as a $5 million loss of developer payments, continue to drain municipal coffers.

As a result, Whitby and many other towns and cities across Ontario are now spending a third of their budgets on programs and services which should be the domain of the provincial government.

To fix the shortfall the town is advocating for the following:

• a review of existing funding arrangements with the provincial and federal governments to ensure predictable and ongoing funding modes support residents’ quality of life
• continued grant programs from other levels of government that align with municipalities’ need for infrastructure funding to enable growth
• new and innovative funding initiatives to share the cost of growth across all levels of government
• new Tri-Government Funding Models to support infrastructure, both new and existing
• the redistribution of the Provincial Land Transfer Tax, HST, and GST to better support municipalities in building to support growth

Finally, as Durham Region grows (it’s expected to double in population to 1.3 million residents by 2051), the new population will need more healthcare services. As such Whitby plans to continue advocating for the expected new hospital.

Lakeridge Health approved a site in Whitby to build their sixth hospital in the Region three years ago in January 2022. However, the project required Provincial funding to get shovels in the ground.

Despite the need, Finance Minister and Pickering-Uxbridge MP Peter Bethlenfalvy failed to earmark funds for the project for three budgets. After much advocacy from Whitby, and some public fighting between Mayor Elizabeth Roy and Premier Doug Ford, the Ontario government finally pledged the funds in August.

“With potential provincial and federal elections on the horizon, Whitby is committed to advocating for the needs of our residents at every level of government. In collaboration with municipal organizations such as the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, Ontario’s Big City Mayors, and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, the Town is asking the federal and provincial governments to provide the funding and support necessary to address the pressing challenges facing municipalities,” Roy said of the town’s plans.

The statement shortly after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced his resignation from his role. He will stay on until a new Liberal leader is chosen.

In the wake of his resignation, Roy expressed gratitude to Trudeau saying, “Having served in municipal politics for decades, I understand the challenges and sacrifices that come with public office. It requires long hours, difficult decisions, and a commitment to uniting people, even in the face of division. Those who step forward to serve, regardless of political affiliation, deserve our respect and appreciation.”

“I am also deeply grateful for the support Whitby has received from the federal government in the first two years of this Council term,” she continued. These include $24.9 million from the Housing Accelerator Fund $25 million from the Green and Inclusive Community Buildings program, work on the Waterfront Trail, the revitalization of Rowe House at the Whitby waterfront, and placemaking projects in Downtown Whitby and Downtown Brooklin.

However, after that a Federal election is expected to quickly follow with the Conservatives and NDP pledging to call a non-confidence vote as soon as parliament returns from its current proroguation. An election needs to be held by the fall in any case.

With the Liberals polling in a distant third place and the Conservatives showing a likely majority win, Roy has pledged, “to continuing to build strong partnerships with the federal government to help advance Whitby’s priorities.”