There were 85,000 people experiencing homelessness last year in Ontario, according to a new report from the Association of Municipalities of Ontario. That number has increased by almost 50 per cent since 2021.
But it’s important to remember that homelessness is just the tip of the housing crunch iceberg. In Ontario in 2023, there were almost 750,000 households in core housing need, the official measure of need (Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation data). Actual need is likely double that—something like 1.5 million households coping with the stress and struggle of paying high rents, often for ill-repaired or overcrowded housing. So for every homeless individual, there are nine to 18 struggling households.
Here’s some more detail about homelessness in Ontario, mostly from the association report:
- Almost every region of Ontario had at least one encampment, with nearly 2,000 across the province.
- More than half of those experiencing homelessness have been homeless for more than six months, cycling through shelters, temporary accommodation and other emergency responses because there aren’t any permanent homes for them to move to.
- Across Ontario last year, more than 300,000 households were on waitlists for subsidized housing, waiting an average of 5½ years to get housing, with some household waiting 16 years!
- More than 30,000 people living on Ontario Works or Ontario Disability Support Program benefits are homeless. (From a just-released Maytree study)
- 1,980 Hamiltonians are known to be experiencing homeless in December, down from the peak of 2,076 in September but still almost 300 higher than in January 2025. (City of Hamilton Housing and Homelessness Dashboard)
- The AMO reports calculated that known homelessness may reach 177,000 people by 2035 if the economy remains stable. If the economy goes into recession, that could easily climb to 300,000 people without a home by 2035.