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“Ontario’s homelessness crisis is significant, but it is not unresolvable,” the report stressed. A fundamental shift is needed, the report said, away from stopgap measures like shelters and hospitals and towards long-term housing.

It’s a costly change, with the report estimating an $11-billion price-tag over 10 years on top of the more than $4 billion municipalities say was spent last year — but also an approach Canadian experts have long backed, and one with demonstrated success in Finnish cities like Helsinki. As the Star recently reported, Finland has seen its homeless population drop since adopting that model, from around 20,000 people in the ‘80s to fewer than 4,000 today.

Here’s what the landmark report revealed about homelessness in Ontario today — and how its authors believe the crisis can be turned around.Ìý

Clear the queues: Up to one in 20 households stuck on a wait-list

As more households struggle to afford their housing bills, community housing can be a life raft. In ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½, the city’s main public housing provider charges subsidized housing tenants just $448 per month on average, with each household asked to pay 30 per cent of their annual income to the landlord.

But applicants can wait a generation for that opportunity. Across Ontario, 268,241 households in 2024 were languishing on subsidized housing wait-lists that take years to several decades to clear, the report found.

This is whereÌýits authors suggest the biggest solution.ÌýOntario’s rent-geared-to-income housing supply has barely budged for years, and the authors wantÌýelected officials to launchÌýa concerted effort to expand it.

The idea is not only to move people out of homelessness, but prevent it for those just scraping by. Of the $11 billion in investments the report calls for, it suggests $7.4 billion goes toward new affordable housing capital costs.

Tim Richter, president of the Canadian Alliance to End ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½lessnessÌý— which was part of an advisory group for the new research projectÌý— says past research has shown 80 to 85 per cent of people who become homeless do so for “almost purely economic reasons.” “They just can’t afford their rent,” he said, noting the remaining 15 to 20 per cent had more complex needs.

He blames the minimal growth in subsidized housing on decades of policy and spending choices focused more on market-priced supply. “Governments just decided that wasn’t a priority, and this is the result,” he said.Ìý“The vast majority of people who experience homelessness, or will experience homelessness in Ontario, really just need an affordable place to live.”

ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½less and stuck there

Chronic homelessness — which generally means someone has been homeless at least six months in one year or 18 months over three yearsÌý— has soared, now affecting more than half of Ontario’s homeless population, including thousands of children under 16.

While the reportÌýpointed to gaps in affordable housing supply as one factor keeping people stuck in shelters, it also zeroed in on a need for more specialized interventionsÌý— recognizing a number of chronically homeless Ontarians have complex needs. “There are not enough spaces to meet the needs of people or the spaces that do exist are not the right ones,” it said.

More investment could help cities shift their specialized supports away from costlier models like emergency shelters toÌýsupportive housing, the report said, which are essentiallyÌýsubsidized rentals with services in the building, often aimed atÌýthose dealing with acute mental illness or addiction.

There has been some growth in Ontario’s supportive housing supply in recent years, the report said. But it calls for much more, arguing for $165 million over the next decade for operational expenses, as well as $250 millionÌýto cover the upfront costs of building new homes.

ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ physician Andrew Boozary, founding medical director of a new specialized supportive housing site for heavy ER uses in ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½, points out that after the upfront investment, supportive housing is cheaper to operate than emergency shelter beds — with better outcomes for individuals.

“It is very expensive to deny people supportive housing in a rich country, in both health and economic costs,” Boozary said.

“This can be done, and it’s happening. It’s really about scaling and spreading locally driven solutions,” he said, noting the monthly costs per unit were around $4,000, versus $5,000 to $6,000 for an emergency shelter bed, more than $13,000 in jail, or more than $30,000 in hospital.Ìý“We can’t lose hope.”

Solutions beyond big, southern cities

Major cities are undoubtedly in crisisÌý— in ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½, the latest city hall data indicates more than 11,100 people used homeless services in the last three months. But in rural and northern areas, it’s a sharply rising phenomenon. An estimated 4,245 people were homeless in rural Ontario last year, the report says, while cautioning that a full count can be harder than usual to ascertain in these municipalities due to vast geography and fewer services.

In northern Ontario, homelessness has surged an estimated 204 per cent since 2016, from 1,771 to 5,377 people, the report foundÌý— while highlighting northern municipalities’ more isolated geography, often limited infrastructure and “systemic inequities” as complications. Any strategy for addressing homelessness should direct a fifth of spending to the north, the report argues.

To Richter, it’s an overdue recognition. “It’s gone unmeasured, frankly, in rural and northern communities, so the assumption has been it wasn’t an issue. The fact is we really hadn’t looked often. And what gets measured gets managed.”Ìý

The response in these areas was more complicated, he said, as small areas likely didn’t have as much access to services like mental health care as a major urban centre. But Richter sees creating more robust responses in smaller municipalities as one way to alleviate pressure on those big cities — reducing the need for people to move in order to access social services and assistance.

“People will come to Thunder Bay from communities all around, because they don’t have the resources,” he said, whileÌýcautioning data on this was limited. “If you want to slow urban homelessness, you’ll want to address rural homelessness as well.”Ìý

A sharper national focus

Decades after Canada’s government stepped back from supporting subsidized housing, the report saidÌýthe tides have started to shift, with new money arriving from federal coffers to build the kind of homes that help people escape homelessnessÌý— and that can prevent it in the first place.

But the report argues cities are still shouldering too much of the financial burden. The authors appeal for a greater national and provincial focusÌý— and investmentÌý— into solutions.

That goesÌýbeyond paying for the bricks-and-mortar of housing, the authors said. For any investment to pay off, it called for a big-picture effort to improve access to addiction treatments, detox programs, primary health care, diversion courts and community safety programs, immigration settlement systems, educational opportunities, financial support programs and other interventions aimed at reducing poverty.Ìý

“Without substantial investments in direct service provision — particularly in substance use and mental health supports within the health-care system — the true gains from the recommended $11-billion investment in housing and homelessness programs will not be fully realized,” the report warns.

Boozary said that mindset is essential. “We can no longer deny how integrated all of this is,” he said.

To him, the reportÌýwasn’t just a call for governments to open up the public purseÌý— but to create a bolder, more united strategy, which also addresses disconnects between social services.Ìý

“This issue really is the public policy issue of our time.”Ìý