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The impact is concerning. Public spaces no longer feel safe for families. Emergency responders are spending more and more time on calls for citizens in mental-health crises or who have overdosed. Shelters and treatment facilities are overloaded, employees at libraries and community centres are having to serve as front-line aid workers.

Municipal budgets, primarily funded by the property tax base, were never designed to deal with the provincial responsibilities of housing, mental health and addictions. Our cities are suffering just trying to keep up.

I’ve seen firsthand in Burlington that our downtown businesses are also feeling it. At coffee shops and burger joints, places that welcome the public to come in and sit down, the mood has shifted. Regular customers are thinking twice about coming by.

It’s a challenge for staff, too. A teenager working a summer job behind the counter is not trained or equipped to deal with the mental health and addiction issues spilling into these workplaces.

We need the public’s help

Ontario’s Big City Mayors (OBCM)Ìý— representing the province’s largest 29 municipalities —Ìýhave spearheaded the to spur the province to act immediately. We need the federal government at the table, too.Ìý

Now, we are asking everyone impacted by this crisis to speak out.ÌýCall your MPP and MP, the premier and key cabinet ministers and ask them to take action. AtÌýÌýyou can write your elected officials and share details about how the crisis has affected you, your neighbourhoods and businesses.

This call to action is not about shaming or blaming Queen’s Park; this government was the first to create a ÌýThe province has been a good partner in the past, and I’m confident it will be again if we demonstrate the urgent need.

Our campaign’s requests are clear and pragmatic

Homelessness and its root causes fall into a complicated zone of provincial responsibility spread across 16 different ministries — such as municipal affairs, housing and health (including mental health and addictions). We are calling on the province to appoint a single ministry and minister to take charge of solving the crisis. This minister should immediately form a joint municipal-provincial task force with experts from the sector to develop and implement an Ontario action plan that delivers long-term funding commitments for supports and resources to cities on the front lines.

Why there is hope

In Kingston, Mayor Bryan Paterson is leading the way with theÌý (ICH). It hasÌýintervened in 550 potential overdoses and 32 overdoses so far this year — saving lives and taxpayer money by avoiding EMS calls and emergency services.

In Toronto, the Ìýreported helping 530 unhoused people transition to permanent housing in 2023 alone.

And in London, OBCM vice-chair Mayor Josh Morgan and city council approvedÌýÌýforÌýnew supportive housing units at House of Hope. This initiative has led to a 74 per cent reduction in ER visits during the same period, year-over-year.

London’s investment was combined with about $700,000 in provincial dollars — a perfect example of how these solutions can be successful when governments and community organizations work together.

Provincial funding to-date has been beneficial — but a funding announcement isn’t an action plan that can solve the crisis for all communities.

We are grateful, but it’s a drop in the bucket. We need to scale up and roll out these solutions across the province.

It’s timeÌýtoÌýact quickly, because the numbers are growing

In 2023, the province had more than 1,400 encampments. Recent Ontario government documents Ìýare living without permanent shelter. We know that staggering figure will continue to rise without urgent action.

Together, we can use our voices to tell our representatives to act now on the homelessness crisis so communities across Ontario can recover and thrive again.