Homelessness concerns continue in Ontario, and a local committee is putting its support behind a resolution that aims to combat the issues, while seeking more funding.
Hastings County’s Community and Human Services Committee agreed to recommend to County Council on Wednesday to back the Town of Ajax’s resolution to urge the province to provide more support to mitigate the ever-growing crisis.
Key recommendations include appointing a dedicated Ministry and Minister with sufficient authority and resources, establishing a multi-sector task force to develop an Ontario Action Plan, and provide municipalities with the tools and resources to transition those in encampments to more appropriate supports, when deemed necessary.
This follows an Association of Municipalities of Ontario report released this week that revealed 85,000 people were without a home last year (increase of about 7.8-per cent) and around 2,000 encampments across the province.
AMO officials stated these numbers underline a ‘broken’ system due to years of underfunding by various levels of government.
Committee member and Belleville Coun. Paul Carr said it’s imperative to have a specific dollar figure attached to the funding and other specific numbers will go a longer way toward making greater progress in the County’s advocacy.
The report estimated about $11 billion would be needed over the next 10 years to effectively deal with the issue.
The County currently spends around $6 million per year on homelessness, but CAO Connor Dorey said staff estimated around $23 million would be required to meet the need.
That includes more funding for supportive housing and case management to greatly increase retention.
The County receives $6.1 million per year through Ontario’s Homelessness Prevention Program, along with $6.3 million per year for three years from Ontario for the Homelessness Addiction and Recovery Treatment (HART) Hub program.
Those funds, however, flow directly through to the agencies, not the County.
Hastings County had 243 individuals and families experiencing homelessness on the By-Name List as of October 31, 2025.
