The Association of Municipalities of Ontario is asking the province for funding and guidance on how to deal with the 1,400 homeless encampments across Ontario cities and towns reported last year.
The organization is looking for help to house and support the growing number of homeless people, which it found has become a serious problem for communities throughout the province.
“While municipalities did not create the homelessness crisis, they are being forced to manage it without the resources or tools to sufficiently respond,” wrote the association in a report.
“Municipalities are often caught balancing the important needs of unsheltered people living in encampments, who deserve to be treated with empathy and respect, and a responsibility to ensure our communities are safe and vibrant places for all residents.”
According to the AMO, several municipalities have already sought injunctions to deal with encampments and they are now calling on the Ontario government to provide some guidance on what the next steps should be.
However, turning to court proceedings can be costly, time-consuming and politically divisive.
Municipalities are seeking help from the province to provide supportive housing, which would include on-site resources for mental health and addictions for those who wind up living in encampments.
The AMO is also requesting that the Ontario government allow people who are homeless to collect welfare, disability support and shelter benefits.
“Currently, because they do not have shelter costs, people who are homeless are not entitled to receive shelter benefits. This means that homeless people on ODSP/OW receive around $500/$400 less per month than the average monthly rates ($1308/$733),” reads the AMO report.
“Amending OW and ODSP policies to provide the shelter allowance to homeless individuals is a key way that the province can make progress on homelessness.”
Justine Teplycky, director of communications for Ontario Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Paul Calandra said that Ontario is spending $700 million a year on community and supportive housing, which provides Toronto and Ottawa with over $240 million for shelter and homelessness support.
Teplycky also said in a statement that Ontario’s spring budget included an additional $396 million over the next three years for mental health and addiction services.
“We continue to call on the federal government to step up, pay their fair share and take more responsibility for the consequences of their policies that have escalated the number of individuals facing homelessness,” she said.
In the Liberals’ most recent budget announcement, a further $250 million was set aside for addressing homeless encampments as part of its National Housing Strategy, a figure that the AMO is calling on Ontario to match.
However, the parliamentary budget officer said that while the feds have allotted around $561 million annually toward homelessness programs, an additional $3.5 billion per year would still be required to tackle only 50% of the problem.
Despite the new funding, however, building permits dropped again in June by 13.9%, continuing the trend of a softening housing market.
The federal Conservatives recently put out a scathing ad about the exponential number of homeless encampments which have popped up in recent years, laying the blame on the Trudeau government.
Conservative Shadow Minister for Housing Scott Aitchinson criticized the prime minister for his handling of housing in a statement to True North on Tuesday.
“Trudeau continues to reward city gatekeepers who block housing and he continues to spend more money than any other OECD nation on housing only to get the worst results,” said Aitchinson.