An Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) report on homelessness termed the state of homelessness in the province as being at a “tipping point.”
The AMO study stated that “Ontario is at a tipping point in its homelessness crisis. More than 80,000 Ontarians were known to be homeless in 2024, a number that has grown by more than 25 per cent since 2022,” the report said. “Without significant intervention, homelessness in Ontario could double in the next decade, and reach nearly 300,000 people in an economic downturn.”
That tough warning was not strong enough for the Raise the Rates Coalition (RTRC). The group said the report “critically fails to identify poverty-level social assistance rates as a primary driver of the province’s homelessness crisis.”
“While AMO correctly identifies the growing scale of homelessness in Ontario, their proposed solutions ignore the most immediate cause – social assistance rates that condemn recipients to absolute poverty,” Ron Anicich, co-chair of the RTRC said in a media release. “No amount of new housing alone will solve homelessness when Ontario Works recipients are expected to survive on $733 per month.”
Locally, the number of people experiencing homelessness in Chatham-Kent has increased by 171 per cent since 2019. That December, Chatham-Kent staff knew of 84 people who were homelessness. As of January 2025, that number has grown to about 228 people.
There are currently between 75 and 100 people who are staying in encampments throughout the municipality, according to C-K officials, and there are ten known encampment locations across the municipality.
Chatham-Kent officials agree with the RTRC that social assistance program payments are sadly lacking and a large cause of homelessness.
“There are many reasons why homelessness is increasing and why housing alone will not solve this crisis,” officials said. “Housing with appropriate supports is needed; however, poverty is driving new people into homelessness daily because of frozen Ontario Works rates and inadequate Ontario Disability rates.”
Municipal staff, Council, and local advocacy groups continue to lobby the provincial and federal governments for increased funding, additional resources, and expanded programs to help with the growing homelessness issue.
