Ontario mayors urge province to declare state of emergency amid homelessness, drug addiction

The mayors of Ontario’s 29 largest cities are calling on the province to declare a state of emergency as municipalities deal with “community safety and humanitarian crises” stemming from homelessness, mental health and addiction.

In a motion passed unanimously on Friday, Ontario big city mayors urged the province to provide more funding and engage more actively with cities and other stakeholders.

The Mayor’s Caucus says municipalities will cover more than 50 percent of the $4.1 billion spent on homelessness and housing programs in 2024.

Caucus chair Marianne Mead Ward, mayor of Burlington, Ontario, says it is not sustainable for cities to continue funding at this rate and that they have already “dug too deep.”

She says property tax dollars should not be relied upon to address homelessness, but municipalities are diverting resources because it is “absolutely unacceptable to us as leaders of our community who care about everybody to allow those people to suffer on the streets.”

A spokesperson for the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing says the province has already invested heavily in tackling homelessness.

Michael Minzak said Ontario is spending $75.5 million to build supportive and affordable housing and create more shelter space, in addition to providing $1.7 billion to municipalities to improve supportive housing, including homelessness prevention programs.

He said Ontario is spending about $550 million to build 28 homelessness and addiction treatment centres, or HEART hubs.

“Our government is taking historic action to give municipalities the tools they need, and have asked for,” Minczak said in a statement.

Some centers have replaced sites that previously offered supervised drug consumption, but were forced to close earlier this year due to an Ontario law that prohibits such sites from being located within 200 meters of schools and daycares.

On Friday, mayors said the spending is not enough to fully solve the problem.

Citing a report by the Association of Municipalities of Ontario released earlier this year, the Mayors’ Caucus said $11 billion needs to be invested over the next 10 years to end homelessness.

“This is a growing crisis,” said Paul Ainslie, Toronto’s deputy mayor.

“Although we have seen some support from the provincial government, it is not enough. Municipalities cannot solve this alone.”