Province provides $36M for homelessness prevention in York Region

The funding is part of a $202 million annual increase provincewide to better meet the needs of those facing homelessness

Newmarkettoday.ca
April 14, 2023
Elizabeth Keith

The Ontario government is allocating $36.7 million to homelessness prevention in York Region.

The funding was part of the 2023 budget and provincewide there is an additional $202 million annually being invested into homelessness prevention programs, according to a government news release.

"This increase in funding and the flexibility it allows will help support those who have fallen on hard times and are experiencing, or at risk of experiencing, homelessness, in York Region by connecting them with the right housing services and other supports," said Dawn Gallagher Murphy, MPP for Newmarket-Aurora.

She was at the York Region Administrative Centre in Newmarket on April 11 to formally announce the $36,701,600 in funding, alongside MPP Logan Kanapathi from Markham-Thornhill and MPP Laura Smith from Thornhill.

"Supportive housing combines long-term housing assistance with individualized, flexible, and ongoing support services, such as counselling, life skills training, activities of daily living and behaviour supports, to enable people to live as independently as possible in their community," Gallagher Murphy said.

In addition to this funding increase, the provincial government is working to address the housing crisis by planning to build 1.5 million homes across Ontario by 2031, the province said.