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County to receive funding for emergency shelters and affordable housing

February 5, 2025   ·   0 Comments

By Brian Lockhart

The Province of Ontario has begun to provide funding of up to $75.5 million to municipalities in the province to help them wind down encampments in public spaces by creating more emergency shelter spaces and affordable housing units.

The County of Simcoe will be receiving up to $3,039,900.

The plan is to create accommodations that 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.

“Homelessness is a serious, complex and growing issue in our Province and Simcoe County that requires coordinated action from every level of government,” said Brian Saunderson, MPP for Simcoe-Grey. “This increased investment is part of our Government’s ongoing commitment to working collaboratively with the County of Simcoe to expand and enhance the important work the County is doing through programs like the Simcoe County Alliance to End Homelessness (SCATEH) and the Canada Ontario Housing Benefit (COBH), to provide safe and secure housing for all our residents.”

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 that require 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 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, the province is helping vulnerable people move out of crisis situations and into stable accommodations.

“The County of Simcoe appreciates the commitment shown by our local MPPs and the provincial government to invest in stable solutions for those living unhoused across our region,” said Simcoe County Warden, Basil Clarke. “We know that homelessness remains a challenge in communities across the country. We believe that this funding will help increase our efforts to move residents who have been living ‘rough’ or in encampments to stable permanent housing and allow us to continue building up access to housing for Simcoe County residents.” 

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