Ontario NDP Leader says cities need more funding to address homelessness, addictions

Ontario’s NDP leader has joined the call for the province to provide more funding to Ontario municipalities struggling to address homelessness and addiction.

Serving meals at Windsor’s Downtown Mission on Saturday, Marit Stiles said the city is one of many that is in crisis.

“Windsor has got some big issues, certainly around homelessness, mental health and addiction, housing and just the affordability crisis, which is hitting a lot of people,” Stiles told CTV News.

The mayors of Ontario’s 29 largest cities issued a news release Friday, calling on the province to declare a state of emergency to address “homelessness caused by addictions and mental health.”

Municipalities want more funding to address the challenges and greater engagement on potential solutions.

“I think it’s really important that the big cities are calling on the government to take urgent action and calling it what it is, which is an emergency, and this is a state of emergency,” Stiles said.

“What we need is the province to come through with the funding. Instead, they download everything onto the cities to handle it.”

According to the mayors, municipalities were responsible for more than 50 per cent of the $4.1 billion spent on homelessness and housing programs last year.

In Windsor, a Point-in-Time Count, conducted in October 2024 to evaluate the state of homelessness, showed 672 people were experiencing homelessness at the time.

Speaking to reporters, Stiles said her experience in Windsor included talks with many people struggling to keep up with the costs of life.

“People who might be housed, maybe they just need a meal, but they can’t afford things today,” she said.

Stiles said the province’s level of funding is “shameful” compared to the $11 billion that municipalities estimate is needed over the next decade to end homelessness.

“Unfortunately, we have a province that isn’t coming through with the support that communities like Windsor need as fast as they need them,” Stiles added.