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3mo ago

Ontario Homelessness Reaches 85,000 as Rural and Northern Surges Lead, AMO Report Finds

Municipalities seek a $2‑billion near‑term infusion plus $11‑billion over ten years to expand housing, supportive services, shelters.

Workers clear an encampment at George Hislop park, in Toronto, on Monday, Nov. 17, 2025.
Freedom Park encampment in Thunder Bay, Ontario, on February 18, 2025. David Jackson / The Globe and Mail
Outreach workers distribute cold weather supplies to encampment residents as temperatures plummet in Toronto on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025.

Overview

  • Ontario municipalities estimate 84,973 people were homeless in 2025, up about 8 percent from 2024 and roughly 50 percent since 2021.
  • Growth is concentrated outside big cities, with rural communities up more than 30 percent in 2025 and Northern Ontario up more than 37 percent year over year.
  • Indigenous people remain overrepresented, with about 11,000 experiencing homelessness in 2025, and more than half of all individuals are chronically homeless.
  • Encampments have grown to nearly 2,000 sites across Ontario, typically small clusters, while Toronto reports a decline to 196 people in tents across 48 parks as of December 2025.
  • The report warns homelessness could double over the next decade and approach 300,000 in a downturn, as current funding of roughly $4 billion trails need and AMO presses for targeted investments.