Ontario homelessness funding ‘not enough’: Hamilton city manager

Hamilton city council is calling on the province to do more to tackle crises in homelessness, mental health and overdoses.

By officially declaring emergencies on those overlapping calamities Wednesday, city politicians hope to spur the Ontario government to action through a series of measures.

Municipalities have been pressing the province for more investment into the housing and health sectors, Mayor Andrea Horwath said.

We need to continue to step up but we also need to continue to be loud advocates," Horwath said.

The emergency declarations led by Coun. Brad Clark come as the city and social-service agencies grapple with overcapacity shelters, rampant overdoses and encampments.

We need funding - significant funding - in these three areas," Clark said.

The unfolding crises are not a static issue," he added. It's not like a Polaroid snapshot, and from this moment on, it's going to get better."

Earlier Wednesday, the offices of local MPPs Donna Skelly and Neil Lumsden issued a news release announcing Hamilton would receive $4.3 million more or an 18 per cent increase over last year to $27.9 million annually for homelessness prevention.

That bump is the city's share of a $202-million annual increase across Ontario the Progressive Conservatives announced in their 2023 budget.

This funding increase represents the type of predictable and stable support that municipalities have been asking for," Skelly (Flamborough-Glanbrook) says in the release.

That hike will go a long way to help the most vulnerable right here in Hamilton," adds Lumsden (Hamilton East-Stoney Creek).

But city staff offered a different take.

I will never complain about any money we get," said city manager Janette Smith, but added the provincial bump-up is not enough."

Last year, the city absorbed" about $14 million to cover the cost of housing and homelessness programs, which partly illustrates the funding gap," noted Mike Zegarac, general manager of finance.

In particular, the city and partners still have an outstanding $5-million-a-year pitch to create supportive housing for about 100 people with complex mental-health and addiction challenges.

That proposal is still with the province and we haven't heard back," Smith said.

Staff have started to tally tens of millions in extra programs needed to end chronic homelessness in Hamilton.

The simple truth is that we can't do this on our own," Coun. Ted McMeekin said.

Teviah Moro is a reporter at The Spectator. tmoro@thespec.com