Ontario’s Big City Mayors (OBCM) joins the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) in raising concern on the worsening homelessness crisis in our province, as identified by AMO in their recently released update to the 2025 Municipalities Under Pressure: The Human and Financial Cost of Ontario’s Homelessness Crisis report.
The updated report shows that “nearly 85,000 Ontarians were known to be homeless in 2025, an increase of almost 8% in just one year and nearly 50% since 2021. Additionally people are staying homeless for longer periods of time. More than half of homeless Ontarians are chronically homeless, meaning they have been without a home for at least six months or have cycled in and out of homelessness repeatedly.” (AMO Update Report, Jan 2026).
These growing numbers highlight the urgency of this crisis, and although investments have been made in homelessness programs by the province and federal governments, it is still not enough. This rise is faster than housing and homelessness serving systems can respond, even with increased municipal funding and expanded services.
Municipalities are going above and beyond to do our part, accounting “for the largest and fastest-growing share of housing and homelessness funding in Ontario” (AMO Updated Report, Jan 2026). However, we cannot sustain this level of funding on a property tax base that was not designed to fund these types of services. This report emphasizes the need for significant long term and stable investments over the next 10 years from both the provincial and federal governments, to not only build new housing and support spaces but also address the systemic causes of homelessness – echoing requests OBCM has made over the past several years.
Ontario’s Big City Mayors (OBCM) has been working with AMO and other municipal organizations to find solutions to the homelessness crisis across the province. OBCM supports AMO’s recommendations including that Ontario needs a fundamentally new approach that focuses on long-term housing solutions over temporary emergency measures, enforcement and a focus on capital investments to develop new affordable and supportive housing units and continued federal funding through the National Housing Strategy to maintain critical programs like the Canada-Ontario Housing Benefit.
OBCM have been focused on the issue of homelessness, mental health and addictions across Ontario for several years, most recently with our SolvetheCrisis.ca campaign launched in August 2024. And in December 2025, OBCM urgently requested that the Government of Ontario declare a state of emergency to address homelessness caused by addictions and mental health that has created a community safety and humanitarian crisis across the province.
For more information on our campaign including our requests from the provincial government on how to work with municipalities to address this growing crisis visit our websites at www.solvethecrisis.ca and www.obcm.ca
“AMO’s report is an eye-opener and a call to action. The crisis of homelessness is getting worse. Solving the crisis will take all levels of government, and the private and non-profit sectors, working together. Mayors and cities across Ontario remain committed to doing our part. We must all take the necessary pro-active steps, including appropriate funding for emergency, transitional and supportive housing.”
Marianne Meed Ward, OBCM Chair and Mayor of Burlington
About Ontario’s Big City Mayors
Ontario’s Big City Mayors (OBCM) includes mayors of 29 single and lower-tier cities with a population of 100,000 or more, who collectively represent nearly 70 percent of Ontario’s population and almost 30 percent of Canada’s population. OBCM advocates for issues and policies important to Ontario’s largest cities.
Media Contacts
Mayor Marianne Meed Ward, Chair Michelle Baker, Executive Director
chair@obcm.ca michelle@obcm.ca
905-335-7777 647-308-6602