Ontario Investing $75.5 Million to Restore Safety to Parks and Public Spaces
January 28, 2025
Minden Will Receive $2.4 Million Investment For Housing
News January 28, 2025
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:
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.
- The Ontario government is currently investing close to $700 million annually in homelessness prevention programs – $654 million through the Homelessness Prevention Program and $41.5 through the Indigenous Supportive Housing Program.
- Service managers and Indigenous program administrators have the flexibility to allocate provincial funding to programs and services that address and prevent homelessness in their communities, such as rent supplements, homeless shelters, and supportive housing including capital projects.
Additional Resources
Bill 242, Safer Municipalities Act, 2024
Transition of nine safe injection sites into HART Hubs
Ontario investing in provincewide homelessness prevention
Queen’s Park Office, MPP Laurie Scott
laurie.scott@pc.ola.org