New data released by the Association Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) show a 7.9 per cent increase in the homelessness population since last year. Marianne Meed Ward is the chair of Ontario’s Big City Mayors (OBCM) and said the increase is not surprising. “That is moms and dads, brothers and sisters, this is a lot of suffering - 85,000 people who are homeless now in our communities,” said Meed Ward. “And we have to take immediate action, and we’ve been saying this for some time.” Meed Ward and OBCM re-iterated a call to the Province of Ontario in December to declare a province wide state of emergency and have called on all levels of government to provide appropriate funding. “Municipalities have been doing our part and subsidizing, the areas that are really the responsibility of other governments but it’s not acceptable to leave people on the street and so we’ve been digging deep,” said Meed Ward. “We can’t do this anymore. We need the federal government, we need the provincial government and we need action now.” According to data compiled from the City of Barrie and County of Simcoe’s Homeless Individuals and Family’s Information System (HIFIS), there are currently 604 people who identify as homeless in Barrie. Sara Peddle, executive director at the Busby Centre, says they continue to see more people entering the homeless system due to the high cost of living. “The cost of living is just becoming more and more unattainable for people,” said Peddle. “It is a choice between paying your rent or feeding your family or feeding yourself.” As of January 6, 73 individuals in Barrie have transitioned to alternate shelter options from encampments. However, advocates are remaining cautious when it comes to housing. “A lot of challenges around affordability,” said Peddle. “People are excited to secure housing, but still wondering and fearful of how they’re going to maintain it because the cost of living is just so out of touch.” The City of Barrie has addressed 72 encampments across the city since a state of emergency was declared on September 9 last year. Two active encampments are located on city property as of Jan. 5. Barrie Mayor Alex Nuttall said city officials are beginning to see the effects of the system working. “We’re starting to see positive effect out of the HART Hub, we’re seeing lots of folks going through the program of pre-detox rehab,” said Nuttall. “And now we need to make sure there’s adequate supportive housing available for those folks to start reintegrating back into the community, but hopefully in a much healthier fashion than they were before.” According to the AMO report, if no action is taken to address the crisis, Ontario could see its homeless population grow to more than 170,000 people by 2035. OBCM hope all levels of government can come together to address the crisis as the AMO predicts it will take more than $1,000,000,000 a year to solve homelessness. You can view a copy of the AMO report here.
