Ontario Investing $75.5 Million to Restore Safety to Parks and Public Spaces
Funding will help wind down encampments and move vulnerable people into safe accommodations
January 28, 2025 – For Immediate Release
SIMCOE COUNTY, ON — Today, Brian Saunderson, MPP for Simcoe-Grey was pleased to announce that Ontario has begun flowing up to $75.5 million to municipalities in order to help them wind down encampments in public spaces by creating more emergency shelter spaces and affordable housing units. The County of Simcoe will be receiving up to $3,039,900. These accommodations will provide vulnerable people with appropriate short and long-term housing alternatives to encampments and help restore safety and order to Ontario’s parks and other public spaces.
“Homelessness is a serious, complex and growing issue in our Province and Simcoe County that requires coordinated action from every level of Government,” said MPP Brian Saunderson. “This increased investment is part of our Government’s ongoing commitment to working collaboratively with the County of Simcoe to expand and enhance the important work the County is doing through programs like the Simcoe County Alliance to End Homelessness (SCATEH) and the Canada Ontario Housing Benefit (COBH), to provide safe and secure housing for all our residents.”
“Our government has delivered significant support to municipalities to address the challenges encampments can pose to public safety across Ontario,” said Paul Calandra, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing. “Mayors have asked us for additional help and we have been clear that we will provide funding to municipalities that show results in winding down these sites. We can no longer accept encampments as a place to deal with mental health and addiction issues.”
The funding that is being flowed to municipalities includes:
- $50 million for ready-to-build affordable housing projects, allocated based on how close a project is to completion and its value for money, to help projects near completion but in need of additional targeted funding open their doors faster.
- $20 million to expand shelter capacity and create additional temporary accommodation spaces.
- $5.5 million to top up the Canada-Ontario Housing Benefit (COHB) to immediately free up emergency shelter spaces for people living in encampments by helping people living in shelters move into longer-term housing. This funding builds on the nearly $400 million invested in COHB between 2023 and 2024.
As part of the government’s commitment to ensuring Ontarians can safely use our shared public spaces, the province is working with local service managers to direct funding into communities where it is needed most. By helping municipalities and other project partners create more emergency shelter and affordable housing spaces, Ontario is helping vulnerable people move out of crisis situations and into stable accommodations.
QUOTES
“The County of Simcoe appreciates the commitment shown by our local MPPs and the Provincial government to invest in stable solutions for those living unhoused across our region. We know that homelessness remains a challenge in communities across the country. We believe that this funding will help increase our efforts to move residents who have been living ‘rough’ or in encampments to stable permanent housing and allow us to continue building up access to housing for Simcoe County residents.”
– Basil Clarke, Warden, County of Simcoe
QUICK FACTS
- The Ontario government is currently investing close to $700 million annually in homelessness prevention programs – $654 million through the Homelessness Prevention Program and $41.5 through the Indigenous Supportive Housing Program.
- Service managers and Indigenous program administrators have the flexibility to allocate provincial funding to programs and services that address and prevent homelessness in their communities, such as rent supplements, homeless shelters, and supportive housing including capital projects.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Bill 242, Safer Municipalities Act, 2024
Transition of nine safe injection sites into HART Hubs
Ontario investing in provincewide homelessness prevention