A new report says homelessness has worsened across the province in recent years but northern Ontario communities are experiencing rates of chronic homelessness that are four times the provincial average.
Released on Thursday, Municipalities Under Pressure: The Human and Financial Cost of Ontario's Homelessness Crisis is a 136-page report commissioned by the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, which represents more than 440 municipalities across the province.
For northern Ontario, known homelessness has surged by 204 per cent since 2016, increasing from 1,771 people to 5,377 in 2024. That growth is four times the provincial average and underscores the severe shortage of long-term housing and other support systems in the north.
"While northern regions account for a smaller share of Ontario’s overall population, the scale of the north’s proportion of homelessness represents a deepening crisis in the north. Unique challenges, such as limited access to critical supports, geographic isolation, fewer housing options, and an inadequate transportation infrastructure, have exacerbated the issue," the report said.
Some local leaders have already begun responding to the report.
"The findings in this report are a stark reminder of the growing homelessness crisis in northern Ontario and here in Sault Ste. Marie," said Matthew Shoemaker, mayor of Sault Ste. Marie in a joint press release by the Northern Ontario Service Deliverers Association and District of Sault Ste. Marie Social Services Administration Board (DSSAB) responding to the report.
"This is a call to action for all levels of government to invest in solutions that address the root causes and unique challenges of homelessness in our region," Shoemaker added.
"These numbers highlight the need for immediate and sustained action to address this growing crisis and ensure every member of our community has a safe place to call home," said DSSAB chair Stephanie Hopkin in the release.
Homelessness in Ontario could double in the next decade without significant intervention, the report states, and could reach nearly 300,000 people in the case of an economic downturn.
When considering Indigenous members of the community, the crisis is even more acute. Indigenous people make up nearly 45 per cent of those experiencing chronic homelessness in northern Ontario and the rate is even higher in some communities.
The report says an investment of $11 billion over 10 years is needed to eliminate chronic homelessness across the province.
"I don't think there's anybody who doesn't have sticker shock when you look at $11 billion over 10 years, but the reality is you're either going to pay for it now or we're going to pay for it later," said Karen Redman, chair of Waterloo Region and chair of Mayor's and Regional Chairs of Ontario (MARCO) during a presentation to the media on Thursday.
The report says in 2024 more than 80,000 people are known to be homeless in Ontario. That figure is more than 25 per cent higher than it was just two years earlier in 2022.
Looking at data for the whole province, 4,418 Indigenous people were reported as chronically homeless in 2024 — representing more than 10 per cent of total cases in Ontario, despite Indigenous people making up fewer than 3 per cent of the overall population.
The report notes that recent investments in social infrastructure in northern Ontario have led to better data collection and may have brought more attention to the issue.
"Some of the increase in homelessness in the north may be a matter of more accurate enumeration. However, it is more likely that the change reflects an actual rise in homelessness in northern Ontario," the report said.