HOUSING & HOMELESSNESS

The Big Picture

Ontario is experiencing a growing housing and homelessness crisis driven by rising housing costs, low vacancy rates in affordable and deeply affordable rental units, inadequate affordable housing supply, and persistent poverty. Visible homelessness is increasing and more people are experiencing chronic homelessness and living in inadequate housing. Shelters and emergency services are under significant strain. 

Persons experiencing homelessness can be helped through initiatives such as rent banks, eviction prevention, coordinated access, and other community-based supports that help people find and maintain housing. One of the most effective solutions is supportive housing, which combines affordable housing with on-site or community-based supports that help people improve health and participate in their communities. Supports may include mental health and addictions care, primary health care, tenancy supports, life skills, employment assistance, and connections to community services. 

Currently, Ontario has a severe shortage of supportive housing. There are approximately 25,300 supportive housing units across the province, while an estimated 36,000 additional units will be needed over the next decade to meet demand.i 

Municipal governments may be on the front lines of responding to homelessness, but long-term solutions require coordinated investment from all three levels of government.  

Concerns you may hear 

Public safety and community well-being 

  • People want public spaces to feel safe and welcoming. Reponses should consider everyone, including individuals who are unhoused and often face serious health and safety risks. 
  • Communities are balancing the use of public spaces with the need to support people who have nowhere else to go. Without housing options, removing options like encampments doesn’t solve the underlying issue. 

Shelter and housing availability 

Many communities don’t have enough emergency shelter, affordable housing or supportive housing, so people are left with few real options.  

Pressure to act fast 

Municipalities are under pressure to act quickly and address immediate concerns with evidence-informed approaches. Lasting solutions take coordination across multiple levels of government, service providers and community organizations. 

What the evidence says

  • Municipalities provide a significant share of Ontario’s housing and homelessness funding. In 2025, they contributed approximately 67 per cent of housing funding and nearly one quarter of homelessness funding, while total spending on homelessness programs across governments reached $2.3 billion. Municipalities now provide most of the housing funding in Ontario, despite housing being a shared responsibility across all orders of government. ii 
  • Homelessness is driven primarily by factors such as housing affordability and inadequate income, rather than mental illness alone. Mental health and substance use challenges both contribute to and are worsened by homelessness. iii 
  • Permanent supportive housing consistently improves housing stability, health outcomes, and community integration while reducing emergency department visits, hospitalizations, shelter use, policing, and justice system involvement. iv 
  • Only 2 – 3 per cent of people waiting for high-support housing are housed each year despite significant demand. v 
  • Rent supplements and portable housing benefits help make market housing affordable but rising rents and declining landlord participation have reduced their effectiveness in many communities. vi 

What you can do this week

  • Learn about and support “Housing First” approaches that help people find permanent housing right away, without requiring them to meet certain conditions first. As well, support transitional housing models that combine affordable housing with flexible, community-based supports. 
  • Support homelessness prevention initiatives such as eviction prevention, rent banks, housing stabilization and coordinated access systems.  
  • Promote supportive housing development through coordinated planning, timely approvals, and community education and engagement to build understanding and respond to local concerns. 
  • Partner with CMHA branches and other community organizations to integrate housing, mental health, addictions, and primary care services.  
  • Advocate for sustainable operating funding, not just capital funding, to ensure new supportive housing can be staffed and maintained.  

Innovative approaches from Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) branches 

  • Many CMHA branches deliver “Housing First” and supportive housing programs that pair rent supplements with flexible supports while allowing people to live independently in the community.  
  • CMHA branches participate in multidisciplinary outreach teams that include housing workers, nurses, peer support workers, social workers, and addictions specialists.  These outreach services connect people experiencing homelessness to housing, mental health, addictions and social supports in a trusted community setting.  
  • CMHA branches provide transitional housing, crisis stabilization beds, and other supportive housing models that help people transition from homelessness into permanent housing.  
  • 16 CMHA branches are leads or partners on Homelessness and Recovery Treatment (HART) Hubs in their communities.  

Learn more

  • Connect with your local CMHA branch to learn about programs and services  

Questions? Contact us at info@cmhabriefingroom.ca 

Sources for this factsheet are available at cmhabriefingroom.ca/resources