Canadian Province Divided on How to Spend Monies for Homelessness

Statistics from Ontario, Canada, reveal that while the government has allocated millions to fund homelessness programs, it has simultaneously reduced funds for community housing initiatives. Since 2018, spending on homeless programs has increased by approximately 80 percent, compared to a reduction of about 70 percent in funding for community housing. This shift indicates a prioritization of addressing immediate homelessness issues over investing in long-term affordable housing options. “When Ontario is spending less on housing, they’re going to end up spending more on homelessness — and that is going to grow,” said Tim Richter, from the Alliance to End Homelessness.

“What you’re seeing in Ontario’s data on their homelessness spend: as homelessness increases that homelessness emergency response spend will increase, as will costs in health care, as will costs in policing and social services across the board in Ontario.” The Global News reports that the provincial and federal governments cannot seem to agree on funding for the national housing strategy. Recently, one accused the other of using money tagged for building new affordable housing units on refurbishing and renovating older homes. The situation has become increasingly complicated by the large number of asylum seekers stressing the system intended to relieve stress on the homeless population.

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