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Wellesley Institute joined the Supportive Housing for Ontario Table in making the following written submission about the need for supportive housing to the Government of Ontario’s 2026 Budget consultation process.
Supportive housing: A provincial priority
We are organizations working in the mental health and addictions, justice, seniors, intellectual disability, acquired brain injury, urban Indigenous and municipal housing sectors, serving clients experiencing homelessness and developing housing research and policy. Our organizations provide a range of services, but we share an urgent concern about the housing crisis in Ontario and are united in our calls to action to ensure the supportive housing system in the province meets the needs of Ontarians.
Case for change
Ontario is facing intersecting crises of homelessness, mental health and housing affordability. Waitlists for mental health and addictions supportive housing alone continues to grow1. This means thousands of people with complex needs are left without stable housing or care. Vulnerable populations (including seniors, people with disabilities, individuals with substance use disorders and those leaving correctional facilities) are disproportionately affected by housing instability2. Seniors face growing housing insecurity, with one in five living in unaffordable housing3. People living with disabilities experience housing insecurity at twice the rate of the general population4. Individuals with addictions represent a majority of shelter users5. Lack of housing is a leading predictor of recidivism among those leaving incarceration6. Without immediate investment in supportive housing, these groups will continue to cycle through emergency shelters, hospitals and the justice system – at enormous social and fiscal cost.
Supportive housing is the solution
Supportive housing is a combination of assisted housing (e.g., rent-geared-to-income and rent supplements) and support services intended to help people live more stable and independent lives, in this case providing self-contained, subsidized units. Onsite or off-site support (e.g., outreach, life skills, medication management) is coordinated through case management. Coupled with case management, people living in supportive housing can also be linked to a wide variety of social services such as job training, income support and community support services (e.g., childcare, educational and recreational programs, support groups). Supportive housing is intended to be a pragmatic solution that helps people have better lives and is one of the strongest policy solutions for vulnerable people of varied life experiences and stages.
Research consistently shows that supportive housing leads to housing stability rates of 80 to 90 per cent, even among individuals with complex needs7. For people experiencing homelessness, it reduces reliance on emergency shelters and hospitals, lowering public costs significantly5. Seniors benefit from accessible housing paired with health and social supports, reducing isolation and preventing premature institutionalization8. Individuals with physical or developmental disabilities gain independence and community integration through tailored supports3. For those with addictions, supportive housing improves recovery outcomes and reduces harm by providing consistent care and housing stability5. People leaving correctional facilities experience lower recidivism rates when housing is paired with reintegration supports5.
Our budget recommendations
1) Commit to building at least 40,000 supportive housing units by 2036. Prioritize non-profit ownership and operation for sustainability by allocating $6 billion over 10 years (approximately $150,000 per unit for capital costs, plus operating supports of $4 billion over 10 years).
The minimum amount needed is 40,000*. These units should be built according to local need and use the insight of experts who know the needs of their local area the best. Operating costs of $4 billion represents an estimate of just under $200 a week of operational support for each unit.
Prioritizing non-profit ownership and operation ensures long-term affordability and service quality. Evidence from British Columbia and Quebec shows that non-profit supportive housing providers deliver better tenant outcomes and maintain affordability over time compared to private-sector models that risk rent escalation and service gaps9. Non-profit operators are mission-driven, reinvesting surplus into services rather than retaining it as profit, and they are more likely to provide culturally safe and trauma-informed care for Indigenous and marginalized communities.
2) Create a Provincial Supportive Housing Secretariat: centralizing decision-making and funding across the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services, Building Ontario Fund, and the Ministry of Long-Term Care.
Ontario has successfully used secretariat models to tackle complex, cross-ministerial issues that are high priority items. This cross-functional secretariat will improve coordination, reduce duplication and streamline decision-making to allow for a focused accountability to deliver the supportive housing units target. It should be staffed by existing public service workers but ensure they have an advisory function that utilizes the insights of advocates, sector providers and those with lived experience.
3) Work with the federal government to secure multi-year match funding from Build Canada Homes to maximize investment, accelerate construction timelines, and ensure cohesive economic oversight of the associated job creation and industrial strategy required to build at scale.
Comparable international programs (like the United Kingdom’s Affordable Homes Program10 and Australia’s National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation11) use either pooled or matched funding between layers of government to maximize delivery. This allows for greater economies of scale and leverages the federal government’s current focus on housebuilding as well as their ability to negotiate with industries and developers at the highest level to ensure that delivery and costs are as efficient as possible.
4) Ensure equity in delivery by ringfencing a portion of both operating and capital funding to address structural disadvantages for Indigenous, racialized and marginalized communities.
Indigenous, racialized and marginalized populations experience disproportionately high rates of homelessness and housing insecurity due to systemic barriers, discrimination and intergenerational trauma. Indigenous people are disproportionately represented in the homeless population in major Ontario cities, despite comprising less than three per cent of the provincial population12. Racialized communities face higher poverty rates and are more likely to live in unaffordable or inadequate housing, with Black households in Toronto experiencing much higher rates of severe housing unaffordability13. People with disabilities and those living on social assistance encounter severe affordability gaps, often forced into unsafe or inaccessible housing14. Without targeted measures, these groups remain at heightened risk of homelessness and poor health outcomes.
To address these inequities, the supportive housing program design should include:
- Culturally safe and trauma-informed services. Service expansion should be developed in consultation with affected Indigenous and other racialized communities and leaders, and a plan to ensure an equitable and growing proportion of these services are operated and led by Indigenous and other cultural-specific organizations.
- Ensuring equitable geographic distribution of supportive housing units in racialized and low-income neighborhoods.
- Embedding accessibility standards for persons with disabilities in all new builds.
- Collecting and reporting disaggregated data to monitor equity outcomes and adjusting funding accordingly.
5) Set public targets and outcome metrics.
Public targets and outcome metrics allow for accountability to the people of Ontario and delivery partners, increasing public trust. They provide a benchmark for success and key barometers for when to change the approach if progress is not being made. They also allow for targeted resource allocation and prioritization. Tying the delivery of units and the provision of the operational services to clear and important indicators will also help build out a more robust evidence base for policy interventions in the housing sector in the future. Metrics such as health, well-being, recidivism and housing stability indicators should be included, and race-based data must be made available to ensure equitable progress for all.
Outcomes, alignment and return on investment
The Canadian Mental Health Association estimates that every $10 invested in supportive housing yields $21.72 in savings across the healthcare, social services and justice systems15 – making this a fiscally responsible and socially transformative investment. A $10-billion investment could generate $21.7 billion in public cost savings over the same period. Addictions and Mental Health Ontario found that while the monthly operating cost of mental health and addictions supportive housing ranges from $2,000-$5,000 depending on the level of support needed by the tenant, monthly costs in correctional facilities are more than $11,000 a month and hospitalization costs over $17,000.
Supportive housing provision will reduce the amount of homelessness and housing precarity experienced by people in the province, it will improve outcomes for rehabilitative care recipients who have experienced addiction, it will reduce the rate of recidivism for those who have been previously incarcerated and it will prevent increased hospital stays and reliance on primary care for seniors and people with disabilities. Residents of supportive housing report positive mental health, enhanced community integration and overall well-being.
This Ontario government has committed to building more housing, expanding mental health services, improving affordability and delivering value for the taxpayer. By committing to this delivery of supportive housing across the province, this budget can meet those commitments. This investment will save lives, strengthen communities and deliver long-term fiscal benefits.
“It’s time to show Ontarians that homelessness is a problem that this government is going to solve.”
Signed,
Addictions & Mental Health Ontario (AMHO)
Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario (ACTO)
Canadian Mental Health Association, Ontario (CMHA, Ontario)
John Howard Society of Ontario (JHSO)
Maytree Foundation
Ontario Federation of Indigenous Friendship Centres (OFIFC)
United Way Greater Toronto
Wellesley Institute
References
1. Ganesan, K., Matte, A., Williams, AR., Wilkie J., Chan., C., O’Connor, K. (2025). Unlocking Solutions: Understanding and Addressing Ontario’s Mental Health and Addictions Supportive Housing Needs. AMHO. Unlocking-Solutions_Understanding-and-Addressing-Ontarios-Mental-Health-and-Addictions-Supportive-Housing-Needs-AMHO2025.pdf
2. Sirotich, F., Durbin, A., Suttor, G., Um, S.-G., & Fang, L. (2018). Toronto Mental Health and Addictions Access Point Waiting List Analysis. https://theaccesspoint.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/The-Access-Point-Waiting-List-Analysis-March-2018.pdf
3. OLTCA. (2023). The Data: Long-Term Care in Ontario. OLTCA. https://www.oltca.com/about-long-term-care/the-data/
4. Canadian Human Rights Commission. (2024) News release – New data highlights troubling housing inequalities for people with disabilities. https://www.chrc-ccdp.gc.ca/resources/newsroom/joint-news-release-new-data-highlights-troubling-housing-inequalities-people
5. Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (2022). Housing Policy Framework. Toronto: CAMH. CAMH Housing Policy Framework FEB 2022
6. Tasca, J., Costa, M., & Ahmadi, R. (2025). John Howard Society of Ontario. Rethinking Justice From Incarceration to Encampment. https://johnhoward.on.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Rethinking-Justice-Housing-Report-From-Incarceration-to-Encampment.pdf
7. Kerman, N., Kidd, S. A., Mutschler, C., Sylvestre, J., Henwood, B. F., Oudshoorn, A., Carrie Anne Marshall, Aubry, T., & Stergiopoulos, V. (2023). Managing high-risk behaviours and challenges to prevent housing loss in permanent supportive housing: a rapid review. Harm Reduction Journal, 20(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12954-023-00873-z
8. AdvantAge Ontario (2022). Bridging the Gap: Opportunities to Address Seniors’ Supported Housing Needs in Ontario. https://www.advantageontario.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Bridging-the-Gap-Seniors-Supported-Housing-Needs-Feb-2022.pdf
9. BC Housing Research Centre Community Benefits of Supportive Housing. (2022). https://www.bchousing.org/publications/Community-Benefits-Supportive-Housing.pdf
10. Department for Housing, Communities and Local Government, United Kingdom. (2026). Affordable Homes Programme 2021 to 2026. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/affordable-homes-programme-2021-to-2026
11. National Housing Supply and Affordability Council, Australia. (2025). State of the Housing System. State of the Housing System 2025
12. Association of Municipalities of Ontario. (2025). Municipalities Under Pressure: The Human and Financial Cost of Ontario’s Homelessness Crisis. 2025-01-08-EndingChronicHomelessnessinOntario.pdf
13. City of Toronto. (2023). Toronto Housing Data Book. City of Toronto. https://www.toronto.ca/city-government/data-research-maps/toronto-housing-data-hub/toronto-housing-data-book/
14. Canadian Human Rights Commission. (2024). What we learned: Housing for people with disabilities. What we learned: Housing for people with disabilities | Canadian Human Rights Commission
15. Canadian Mental Health Association. (2022). Election Monitor: Supportive Housing Investment Strengthens People and their Economy. https://ontario.cmha.ca/news/cmha-election-monitor-supportive-housing-investment-strengthens-people-and-the-economy/
* Calculated by taking an original expert panel recommendation in 2017, adjusting for projected population growth, adjusting to include other populations from that original calculation, and considering the growth in the mental health and addictions supportive housing waitlists.