January 10, 2025
Today the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) released their report Municipalities Under Pressure: The Human and Financial Cost of Ontario’s Homelessness Crisis which identifies the extent of this humanitarian crisis and its impact in Ontario while outlining solutions for all levels of government to consider. The report outlined that the number of people experiencing homelessness across Ontario is unprecedented at an estimated 81,515 in 2024, an increase of 25% since 2022 and without significant intervention these numbers could triple by 2035.
The findings in the AMO report support the repeated calls from Ontario’s Big City Mayors (OBCM) through our SolvetheCrisis.ca campaign for action and resources from all levels of government to address this urgent and growing humanitarian crisis. OBCM has been working with AMO over the last few years to bring municipalities of all sizes together to find solutions to the homelessness crisis across the province. Municipalities have been doing our part in addressing homelessness, but as our campaign makes clear we do not have the resources and expertise to take it on alone.
Across all levels of government AMO has reported that in 2024, $4.1 billion was spent funding housing and homelessness programs in Ontario, with municipalities contributing 51.5% of this total. Ontario is the only province in Canada where funding for social housing has been downloaded to municipalities and we cannot sustain this level of funding on a property tax base that was not designed to fund these services. This report emphasizes the need for significant long term and stable investments for consideration by provincial and federal officials to not only build new housing and support spaces but also address the systemic causes of homelessness, an ask that OBCM echoes.
“Ontario’s Big City Mayors, AMO, and municipalities across Ontario have been ringing alarm bells for years. The report released today lays out how the homelessness crisis is growing at an unprecedented rate across the province – in municipalities big and small, rural and urban,” said Marianne Meed Ward, Mayor of Burlington and Chair of OBCM. “We cannot face this alone, we need other levels of governments to step up. I hope that the findings and recommendations included in this report will be taken seriously by both the provincial and federal governments, and that it leads to a long term plan with sustainable funding and services for the most vulnerable members of our communities who are suffering. We need help now.”
OBCM have been focused on the issue of homelessness, mental health and addictions across Ontario with our SolvetheCrisis.ca campaign launched in August 2024. For more information on our campaign including our requests from the provincial government on how to work with municipalities to address this growing crisis visit our website at www.solvethecrisis.ca
About Ontario’s Big City Mayors
Ontario’s Big City Mayors (OBCM) includes mayors of 29 single and lower-tier cities with a population of 100,000 or more, who collectively represent nearly 70 percent of Ontario’s population. OBCM advocates for issues and policies important to Ontario’s largest cities.
Media Contacts
Mayor Marianne Meed Ward, Chair Michelle Baker, Executive Director
chair@obcm.ca michelle@obcm.ca
905-335-7777 647-308-6602