Expanding Supportive Housing in Toronto - by Councillor Joe Cressy, seconded by Councillor Paula Fletcher

Since 2016, the City has added 2,500 beds to our emergency system. Our low-barrier, emergency respite spaces have grown from 150 to 800, operating year-round. Yet each and every day this week, our shelter system has been at, or over, capacity. Emergency response is not, and will never, solve homelessness. The stark reality facing those without adequate homes is a multi-year wait for supportive housing and 181,000 people on the waitlist for affordable housing. We must respond by ensuring that everyone has a safe place to sleep, each and every night. We must also create a path out of our shelter system, and into stable and supportive housing for the thousands who need it. While we must continue to ask our Provincial and Federal partners for the urgent assistance, we must also explore the tools at the City's disposal to aggressively expand this critical component of the continuum of housing services in our City. In March 2018, City Council approved my motion to adopt a target of building 18,000 new supportive housing units over the next 10 years, 1,800 per year, to help people transition out of the shelter system and into more stable and permanent housing. In order to truly begin to address homelessness, we must be aggressive in our work to build these urgently needed units of supportive housing.

2. City Council request the Medical Officer of Health to report to the April 8, 2019 meeting of the Board of Health on the current services and supports, including mental health and addiction supports, available in Toronto's emergency shelters and respites, supportive and transitional housing, and Toronto Community Housing, including details on operating and management frameworks and program revenue sources, and opportunities for expansion as part of an aggressive supportive and transitional build program in the City of Toronto.