Ontario Investing $75.5 Million to Restore Safety to Parks and Public Spaces

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. 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.

“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.

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