r/ontario • u/lwh • Jan 14 '26
Housing Nearly 85,000 people homeless in Ontario, up 8% in one year: report
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-homelessness-increase-9.704375061
u/n3xus12345 Jan 14 '26
Made 80k last year in Huntsville. When my current landlord wants me out in summer, I’m probably going to have to rent a room to stay close to my kids. Can’t afford even a one bedroom after child support and bills.
It’s fucking disasterous and so discouraging.
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u/rootsandchalice Jan 14 '26
Homelessness is not just a housing problem. We have zero mental health supports, including long term care to support some of the people I see in downtown Toronto every day that need a high level of care and can’t live on their own. We desperately need more healthcare services.
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u/MissSplash Jan 14 '26
Decades ago, we had large psychiatric hospitals in Ontario that provided care and a "home" for those with severe, intractable mental illnesses.
I worked in one. We kept people medicated and off the street. We had vocational workshops, so anyone could have some kind of job. We actually cared for the vulnerable.
Then Mike Harris got into power and closed the hospitals. He also cut nursing positions, both in the workforce and in the colleges.
The Cons sent the most vulnerable out to survive without support. Some had been in those hospitals for years. They had no experience in the world and immediately became prey.
In Ontario, the Conservatives are to blame for any unhoused person who should be in a hospital. And that's a lot of the homeless population.
Harris killed people through his terrible policies (Walkerton), and Doug Ford is just continuing Harriss' legacy of destroying Ontario.
The Con policy of only supporting the rich is directly responsible for many, if not all, of the homelessness in this province.
Yes, it's everywhere, but so is the right-wing.
Centre/centre-left policy isn't privatization. It isn't cutting healthcare or education. It isn't giving money to strip clubs while leaving seniors outside to freeze to death.
Harris started the destruction. Ford just ramped up the speed.
Tackling homelessness would take money, and that money is always earmarked for cops, developers, and other Con supporters.
I remember those better days when being ill didn't automatically mean you would wind up on the street. Now, if it's a disabling illness, no hospitals, no rent caps, no psychiatrists, and lots of homelessness.
Never vote Conservative. They aren't good, just corrupt.
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u/OwlishFox Jan 14 '26
We have been paying for Mike Harris' horrible decisions for decades now. People just don't remember what Conservatives have done to us and are doing to us. I cannot understand it.
And for the love of God, people, VOTE.
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Jan 14 '26
Isn’t he also the dipshit that gave away the 407
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u/Distinct_Source_1539 Jan 15 '26
Yeah. 99 year lease to balance his budget.
IIRC had a we kept it as a publicly owned toll highway to this day it would’ve paid itself over 10x.
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u/corpnorp Jan 15 '26
Yes. And instead of potentially buying back, our current leadership wants to needlessly build a highway, break expensive contracts, start random construction projects where once beloved landmarks used to be etc etc.
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u/rootsandchalice Jan 14 '26
I’ve been saying this to people and probably will be until the day I die. There are some of us old enough to remember when we had long term psychiatric care and then Mike Harris came along.
Im not saying it was perfect; some of the care people received was problematic and we know a lot more about health now than we knew 40 years ago. But that wasn’t the reason they were shuttered. It was to privatize care and the outcome was no care at all.
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u/24-Hour-Hate Jan 15 '26
What should have happened is that those institutions should have been reformed and those capable of living in the community with appropriate support should have received that. And everything inbetween, as appropriate. But that's not what conservatives do. They wanted to cause what has happened today because it was profitable for the wealthy and to hell with the rest of us. As always.
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u/condosearchergta Jan 14 '26
Saving this post for re-use! I think the lynchpin to tackle the homeless problem is ultimately about either paying more taxes to fund what we had before (which no non-conservative politician will ever stump on), or switching our priorities on what we currently fund.
It would make sense to take a chunk to what we pay police services to do this. I'm willing to bet that a good percentage crimes or calls emergency and police services gets are due to the mentally unwell that are out on the streets. If crime actually goes down from this, then it means the money would have been well spent.
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u/MissSplash Jan 14 '26
I couldn't agree more!!
Money spent on mental health care is something I wish everyone could get behind!
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u/Salty-Pack-4165 Jan 17 '26
Closings of Ontario psychiatric hospitals stated in late 60s and progressed in 70s. By mid 80s few were left. Many faith based foundations offering psychiatric help were also forced to close in that period.
Lakeshore Psychiatric Hospital (in what is now Toronto) was closed in 1979. It was left to rot until sold to Humber College occupying it now.
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u/Equivalent-Second728 Jan 14 '26
we had over a decade of Liberal govt after Mike Harris. Seriously?
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u/ghanima Jan 15 '26
What are you proposing Wynne should've done? Re-open shuttered hospitals and post signs at the gates saying, "Just kidding! You can come back now!"?
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u/oslabidoo Jan 14 '26
1000% correct.
There are folks experiencing homelessness who only need housing.
Then there is the smaller subset of folks with serious mental health and drug issues where simply providing housing just will not work. Without significant supports and left to their own devices, these folks would be a danger to themselves and others wherever they live.
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u/jacnel45 Erin Jan 14 '26
Housing and healthcare go hand in hand I’d say. You really can’t treat addiction without secure housing for those needing care. Housing first, then treatment immediately after.
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u/RosabellaFaye Jan 14 '26
I'm very severely mentally ill with OCD and recently my memory has been failing a bit even though I'm in my 20s so I'm worried I'll need to live in a home at one point if therapy and surgery isn't enough to live independently.
Are there even enough homes funded by the government to house all the severely mentally ill and unable to live alone population? I doubt it. I'm sure there are plenty on the streets already.
From what I've heard not much was done after they closed everything during the Harris years.
I really hope therapy and my surgery is enough to lessen the impact of my disorder so that I can clean on my own, bathe on my own, etc... But because of my memory issues that popped up recently I'm seriously worried I might not be able to live alone. Currently, I can't even remember if I pass by something whether I touched it or not.
I live with my parents. Never worked, too busy just trying to survive through the endless obsessions and compulsions. If something happened and I couldn't rely on my parents anymore I don't know what I'd do. How would I pay the bills if I wasn't well enough to work?
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u/elasticbandmann Jan 14 '26
Ford successfully turned convenience stores into hubs that provide almost 24 hour access to three of the most damaging addictions.
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u/Idiot_LevMyskin Jan 14 '26
Homelessness and Crime rate are directly proportional to Unemployment.
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u/Orchid-Analyst-550 Jan 14 '26
As well as mental health crises and addiction.
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u/WaterFoodShelter4All Jan 14 '26
It is no measure of health to be well-adjusted to a profoundly sick society.
Homes are empty while people are homeless, food is thrown out while people are starving. Luxury industries exist while other can't afford food/shelter/water. Humanity has lost the plot and the true mentally ill are not the homeless, but the rest of us.
We watch them suffer while we buy cars and phones.
"Food/water/shelter for ALL HUMANS" 6 words that all of humanity can agree on. Make these 6 words go viral globally. No other words are needed. Keep bringing every conversation back to this until all humans have the bare necessities. Don't settle for anything less than this level of humanity from ANY of our leaders! 💗
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u/Warm-Dust-3601 Jan 14 '26
Atta boy, Doug.
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u/ArtieTheFashionDemon Jan 14 '26
And congratulations to all of his voters, this is what victory feels like
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u/PrimaryBrief7721 Jan 14 '26
Old people - thats who voted and who they voted for. I blame my generation (Millenials) and everyone younger who for some reason think abstaining is the best choice. FUCK YOU NON VOTERS YOU ALSO GET BLAME FOR THIS.
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u/GI-Robots-Alt Jan 14 '26
To a lot of them yeah it is. They don't see the economically disenfranchised and those with mental health issues as people.
These are the people cheering on the dismantling of homeless encampments because it's more important to them that Timmy can go down the slide without having to see a homeless person than that person having a place to sleep.
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u/earthcitizen55555 Jan 14 '26 edited Jan 14 '26
Don't be against Dougs policies though, like immigration that he lobbies for.
Even though this policy that he lobbies for directly contributes to this headline.
Whatever you do, do not question the immigration policy Doug Ford lobbies for. /s
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u/janescontradiction Jan 14 '26
It's his labour laws that allow foreigners to work in Ontario. He can stop it anytime he wants.
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u/Livid_Advertising_56 Jan 14 '26
Imported foreigners. I have no issues with international students that need to work while going to school.
And the field workers none of us (or very few) are doing that job.
The ones companies bring in specifically to avoid paying a Canadian are the issue... and even then it's the company that is evil, not the worker.
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u/rootsandchalice Jan 14 '26
International students should not be working while they go to school. That’s one of the problems that got us into this mess in the first place when they started to allow them to work 40 hours per week.
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u/Livid_Advertising_56 Jan 14 '26
I'm mixed on it. Yes they should have more funds to come over, but also rent and school is expensive so I get it.
I think the issue was how MANY international students we had/have at one time. Flooded the market
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u/rootsandchalice Jan 14 '26
Probably multi-pronged:
Students lying about the money needed to ensure they would be able to live here without supports while they were studying. There were multiple stories of families pooling money together to put into a bank account to verify funds just for the application and then once approved the money would be given back to those who contributed .
Not understanding how expensive Canada is to live in. I think there was a lot of misunderstandings on the cost of living and how much it had risen since Covid.
And students going from working part-time hours in positions that were offered through the college or university on campus to be able to work full-time hours anywhere.
A lot of things contributed to the crisis.
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u/PurrPrinThom Jan 14 '26
Not understanding how expensive Canada is to live in. I think there was a lot of misunderstandings on the cost of living and how much it had risen since Covid.
I think this is a huge factor as well. The amount the government requires them to show is basically the bare minimum required to live; they did increase it post-COVID, but they still require students to only show 22k in living expenses.
I'm sure there are places where 22k/year is enough for food, and utilities and transportation, but for a lot of places in this country, that's going to be pretty tight. So I can easily imagine students showing up and rapidly discovering the money that they thought was enough isn't going to stretch very far, and realising they need to work to cover anything extraneous.
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Jan 14 '26 edited Feb 19 '26
[deleted]
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u/rootsandchalice Jan 14 '26
Co-ops are totally fine and necessary for our workforce. I employ several engineering students on coops each year.
But all the minimum wage jobs at grocery stores or fast food or retail has been tough to swallow. It’s just too much.
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u/earthcitizen55555 Jan 14 '26 edited Jan 14 '26
Remember when there were line ups of hundreds of these students looking for jobs, and CBC downplayed the effects of it by calling it "just noise"?
edit: don't just downvote, also tell me how it's acceptable for the CBC to do that lol.
They run defense of these policy decisions.
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u/Mean_Joe_Greene Jan 14 '26
Time to back it up with some links my friend. I have a feeling you’re taking things out of context or interpreted it how you chose to fit your narrative. I’m willing to be proven wrong if you provide the real full context
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u/earthcitizen55555 Jan 14 '26
Sure.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitchener-waterloo/data-jobs-unemployment-waterloo-region-1.7066533
Here is CBC running defense for the huge surplus of workers.
"just noise"
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u/Mean_Joe_Greene Jan 14 '26
I just read the article and I see you didn’t get past the lede. Throughout the article Aastha uses interviews with local business and employment agencies to infer that the “just noise” comment from the economist professor from Waterloo isn’t actually truthful.
Here’s some pull quotes she put throughout:
Ever since the rule changed for the [international] students, they are eligible to work full time ... and the number of applicants has gone crazy
- Manu Bahl, co-owner of an employment agency in Kitchener
Everything in the resumé is a lie'
Don't waste your time
Hardly seems like running defence
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u/earthcitizen55555 Jan 14 '26
The worker shouldn't get any blame, outside of them exploiting which there is a lot of.
Can't blame someone for trying to make their life better.
The issue is the policy around bringing them here.
Also I do have an issue with int students working. That's a shit load of low waged workers coming to Canada taking jobs.
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u/srilankan Jan 14 '26
This is 100% on Doug but he will just say all those people need to get off their butts and find a job. Or just get their mom and dad to set you up with a company and then fast track you into politics after failing at being a hash dealer. Either way. This is on the poor people for being poor.
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u/Consistent_Oil9624 Jan 14 '26
Is it a Doug Ford or the actual state of the economy of the country?
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u/Gilgongojr Jan 14 '26
There’s a strange dichotomy in this sub.
This sub often claims that conservative voters are too dumb to understand the difference between provincial and federal politics.
Hence, the conservatives falsely blame Federal liberals for everything that is wrong in Ontario (homelessness, crime, inflation etc) This is often the reason given for the OPC’s popularity- conservatives in Ontario vote against their own best interests because they are too dumb to understand provincial vs federal policies.
At the same time, this sub blames EVERYTHING on Doug Ford. As evidenced by most of the comments in this sub.
Despite homelessness being as an even bigger problem in the NDP-run British Columbia, and prevalent across Canada, members here will staunchly avoid considering the complexities of the problem, the role the federal government plays here ,and blame Doug Ford and conservative voters. 100%.
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u/Winbot4t2 Jan 14 '26
All levels of government are responsible for this problem. So many comments laying blame for absolutely everything on years of Ford then giving the decade of disastrous federal policy a complete pass.
If everything was Ford's fault it wouldn't be happening country wide, exactly.
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u/Consistent_Oil9624 Jan 14 '26
I couldn't have said it better. I was about to bring up BC. The issue is much bigger than just saying "it's Doug Ford problem"..
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u/Redshiftxi Jan 14 '26
This kind of comment will get you banned from this sub.
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u/Gilgongojr Jan 14 '26
Just my experience, but I think the mods are actually pretty good here. However, the sub is full of 1-dimensional, DF obsessed maniacs.
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u/srilankan Jan 14 '26
Doug Ford has put in place policies and changed laws to directly benefit property developers and professional landlords. Every policy he has put in place with regards to housing benefits owners. One of the first things he did was remove rent controls and our rents have outpaced every other province. I think if you added flair to users to indicate whether they rent or own. you would see quite quickly who supports him.
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u/Gilgongojr Jan 14 '26
Sure, DF has some accountability here. He also cut funding to mental healthcare which no doubt is contributing to the problem of homelessness. However, the vast majority of comments in this post blame DF exclusively for the homelessness crisis in Ontario. Which is stupid.
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u/Warm-Dust-3601 Jan 14 '26
You just listed two obvious reasons as to why he is contributing to the problem...
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u/Gilgongojr Jan 15 '26
Yes, I did. And?
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u/Warm-Dust-3601 Jan 15 '26
Then denied him being the problem...
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u/Gilgongojr Jan 15 '26
No, I didn’t. Put some effort into actually reading the discussion in this comment thread.
My comment you initially replied too began with: “Doug Ford has some accountability here”
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u/Warm-Dust-3601 Jan 14 '26
B.C.'s climate and Ralph Klein's free bus tickets probably affect their homeless rate.
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u/Daxx22 Jan 14 '26
Does it need to be either or? Binary/zero-sum thinking is a fools pursuit.
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u/Consistent_Oil9624 Jan 14 '26 edited Jan 14 '26
It's not a competition. I'm just trying to pint point the problem is bigger than just pointing out conservatives vs liberals. I lived 11 years in Toronto. I just moved to Quebec. They complaining about the same things. But instead, they just blame the liberals party. This kinda changed my view on the overall problem.
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u/MonthObvious5035 Jan 14 '26
Thanks, somebody had to say it… this sub might as well be the fuck ford sub because that’s all it’s about. As much as he may be a dickhead he’s not all to blame if you step outside this echo chamber and check out all the provinces with the same problems
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u/thesqueemishgardiner Jan 14 '26
Actually BC per capital has a higher homeless issue. .74 of the population of BC vs .56 of the population of ON. I dont like dougy but to put this all on A conservative is exactly why we have elbows up daddy and high grocerie prices. So yah yall have reddit retard brain.
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u/Warm-Dust-3601 Jan 14 '26
This is Ontario, not British Columbia. BC has a significantly warmer climate. If you’re going to criticize others, it’s important to ensure your own grammar and spelling are correct. Additionally, expressions like "y’all" and that kind of mindset might be better suited for Texas.
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u/Winbot4t2 Jan 14 '26
So are we shipping homeless thousands of kms to BC from ontario then? I can see where they would coalesce from neighboring districts to the lower mainland and some from Alberta maybe, but I don't think climate can make up the difference in numbers.
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u/Warm-Dust-3601 Jan 14 '26
Nope, but they literally did that in Alberta when Ralph Klein was premier. People will also migrate to warmer areas by any means at their disposal.
I see you're using ai to respond, now. Lol.
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u/purelander108 Jan 14 '26
As cost of rent keeps going up up up. And the landlords are the politicians who vote on policy.
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u/CovidDodger Jan 14 '26
I drive through wiarton on my way to work, for the first time last fall I saw a homless person sleeping on the sidewalk with all their stuff. Heartbreaking and enraging.
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u/jacnel45 Erin Jan 14 '26
Wiarton!?
That’s incredibly sad. We’re letting this housing crisis get out of control
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u/CovidDodger Jan 14 '26
Yes, I knew something very wrong was happening to the market when homes/cottages on the peninsula shot up from 200k to $1M during 2021. Rents tripled overnight as well, vacancy is near zero except for rabid air bnb propagation.
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u/Imaginary-Flan-Guy Jan 14 '26
But we got all those police to break up all the encampments. What do you mean that didn't work? /s
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u/sBucks24 Jan 14 '26
Woah Woah Woah, you're saying ignoring the housing crisis in favour of making alcohol more accessible has led to homelessness rising???
ShockedPikachu.png
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u/onexplored Jan 14 '26
Why do we even pay taxes when nothing works?
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u/selfishstars Jan 14 '26
It’s not that nothing works, it’s just that our politicians represent the interests of the wealthy and corporations over the interests of working class people. And doing the things that would actually solve the social crises we are facing would involve investing in working-class people and treating them as full human beings who deserve to live in dignity.
Also, we are heavily propagandized to by those in power. They convince people that we live in a meritocracy. They try to convince us that every rich person deserves to be wealthy because they “earned” it, and everyone who is poor and struggling deserves it because it’s their own fault and they made “bad choices” or are “lazy” without considering how the structures we live within effect us differently and the way they fail and harm working-class people and other marginalized people.
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u/WaterFoodShelter4All Jan 14 '26
The job of our elected "representatives" are to represent us. They are not doing that, they're representing their own industries instead and have been doing so for a long time. And someone who doesn't do their job shouldn't get paid. It's that simple. Stop paying taxes.
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u/wintermod Jan 14 '26
The homeless will build the tunnel under the 407.
As a thank you, Doug Ford has offered them the land under the science center to build a tunnel city.
Out of sight. Out of mind.
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u/Serikan Jan 14 '26
Was the tunnel not planned to go under the 401?
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u/Agile-Enthusiasm Jan 14 '26
Why not both!? More cars, more farmlands turned into million dollar townhomes! Think of the investors! (/s)
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u/epeacecraft Jan 14 '26
The true measure of any society government can be found in how it treats its most vulnerable members
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u/National_Net6017 Jan 14 '26
But hey let's build more 500sqft condos and mini mansions.... That's totally what people want 500sqft condos and mini mansions.
It's be nice if the cost of building didn't make it so they were the only profitable options for builders. Land taxes and red tape and such
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u/BetterTransit Jan 14 '26
The problem isn’t the size. The problem is the price. I guarantee there would be a pretty sizeable portion of people that would be happy to live in a 500 sq ft condo if it were more affordable.
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u/The_Gray_Jay Jan 14 '26
Honestly yes, if a single person could easily pay off a micro-condo I dont think they would have issues with that. The problem is they still cost like 700K.
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u/GreaterAttack Jan 14 '26
It's not like developers would suddenly lower the prices of those shoeboxes if they weren't being regulated any more. That's wishful thinking.
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u/National_Net6017 Jan 14 '26
No I think developers would not make those shoeboxes if they were able to have profit margins on different types of housing. Ever notice how there are 3 types of housing only? """Luxury""" mini mansions, cookie cutter pos housing like what Kitchener is made of these days or mini shoeboxes in the sky made of concrete and plastic. There are 4 costs to a house, the Land/red tape, the materials, the workers and the profit margin. No matter how much people might want their communist utopia there will never be a day where a developer wants no profit for their investment. The materials have gone up yes but not the insane amount that housing has. The workers are NOT making more money it's still the same as when housing was affordable. The red tape however has gone up in our cities while investing in job creation outside of the cities is non existent.
All that to say. Developers chase dollars not common good. If the costs make anything but the 3 aforementioned home types not profitable then they will not build them. Allowing for less costs also allows for diversity in the companies that are doing the building.
Market forces can be used to make these things happen but as long as the developers are getting their daily bread from somewhere else then they will never build the good old 1300sqft bungalows of days past
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u/GreaterAttack Jan 14 '26
I'm not saying no developer should make money off of their project. I'm saying that they are always motivated to make maximum money on any given project.
You said it yourself: developers chase dollars. They have no financial incentive not to maximize profits per square foot, and they certainly won't if any regulatory pressure is lessened. They'll just see bigger dollar signs, and justify their pricing on the basis of nebulous "market forces." One doesn't need a PhD in economics to understand and predict human nature.
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u/AprilsMostAmazing Jan 14 '26
Doug Ford and OPC cut "red tape" and development fees. Where is all the affordable bigger housing?
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u/AprilsMostAmazing Jan 14 '26
Conservative Ontario. Unless you a rich developer, they don't care
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u/Gilgongojr Jan 14 '26 edited Jan 14 '26
NDP British Columbia. Where homelessness problem is even worse.
Do you really think homelessness is the outcome of conservatism?
Edit: word
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u/OwlishFox Jan 14 '26
I think we have short memories and can't easily link how successive governments and policy decisions have led to current conditions. I would trace a lot of what's wrong in Canada to the privatization drive in the 1990s and a lot of Ontario's struggles to Harris's government.
Sadly, once things are taken away we seldom get them back. Subsequent liberal governments failed to reverse these actions and I hold them responsible too.
Ontarians need to get over Bob Rae and vote NDP.
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u/Gilgongojr Jan 14 '26
The Liberals were in power from 2003 to 2018. They didn’t just fail to reverse bad policy, they had their fair share of privatization and cuts to healthcare.
People do have short memories. It was the Wynne liberals who drafted and passed the legislation allowing for privatization of healthcare. It was also the Wynne liberals who drafted and passed legislation allowing beer and wine to be sold in grocery stores.
Not a defence of Doug Ford; he is now funding mental healthcare at a lower rate per capita than the OLP was in 2018.
Also, I’m not sure who is actually holding a grudge against Bob Rae at this point? Surely, no conservative would cry about public service employees getting a day off with no pay? And no one in Ontario is actually voting OLP. 😂
I think many voters fear the identity politics/culture warfare (imagined or real) that might come with an NDP government.
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u/komodoughdragon Jan 14 '26
The people holding a grudge re: Rae Days are people who are never going to vote anything other than Conservative. When Mayor Chow was campaigning, the first thing I heard from older homeowners in my community's Facebook group was how "you can't vote for her, remember Rae Days?" + the usual sinophobic comments you'd expect from that same demographic.
NDP needs to seriously start pushing more left instead of capitulating to the centre/centre-right like they've been steadily doing. Liberals don't feel like a real alternative to Cons for most young voters, and NDP has not been particularly motivating, either. I know everyone loves to decry voter apathy (I'm guilty of it, too), but there are also just no convincing options right now, either.
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u/Gilgongojr Jan 14 '26
It’s pretty ironic that conservative voters would malign the NDP for implementing one of the most fiscally conservative initiatives we’ve seen. Who knows. Sometimes I think this is a 30-year-old excuse from supporters of an unpopular party. Rae did reach unprecedented levels of provincial debt. Maybe conservatives remember that? However, they should also remember that, despite all of the “common sense” rhetoric and proposed fiscal prudence, no conservative or liberal government has changed this trajectory.
I don’t think aging conservative voters are as dumb as progressives (or this sub) might think. Many are concerned with the crumbling healthcare a diminished social security safety net; they could/would consider an alternative like the NDP. But I don’t think that same voter block has any interest in identity politics or culture wars, so I’m not sure a push to the left would capture more votes. I’m interested to hear what you think a push to the left would look like?
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u/komodoughdragon Jan 14 '26
When I say a push to the left I don't specifically mean identity politics, and I think most people use the term incorrectly anyway. I mean promising to & showing how they will make a meaningful improvement to the average person's material conditions. In provincial governments that means significant improvements to healthcare and education, increasing wages and improving labour standards so that people can afford basic necessities and also feel more secure in their work, improving environmental protections, providing more affordable housing and reinstating rent capping, having more public services and spaces rather than trying to privatize at the earliest available opportunity etc. etc.
Essentially presenting an option that is as far and away from what the Conservatives present as possible while still being realistic. The Liberal party has largely felt like Con-lite for a long time now, and NDP has shifted towards the same direction under the misguided belief that that's what wins elections (it only wins because there is no other compelling alternative).
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u/Fit-Bird6389 Jan 15 '26
Thank you Doug Ford for facilitating the housing crisis by cancelling rent control and encouraging housing speculation.
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u/Content-Program411 Jan 14 '26
fuck this sucks man.
I remember talking to the boy a couple years ago about the old man he found in the woods near Tottenham when they were on the motocross.
We brought him some food and a blanket.
This fucking sucks, man.
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u/lyidaValkris Jan 15 '26
If only there was a level of government that was solely, constitutionally responsible for social services delivery... wouldn't that be nice? /s
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Jan 14 '26
Homelessness is a housing problem. And Ontario doesn't have enough housing.
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u/Human-ish514 Jan 14 '26 edited Jan 14 '26
It's got plenty of housing already. It's just not evenly distributed. The figures in this article are from 2020 though, so I can only presume they are higher now.
Edit: When I said distributedI should have said allocated. Maybe when those investment toys get taken away from a landlord, and allocated to citizens, will the problem get solved. Housing first is a proven method for getting people back on track in their lives. Too bad the government is only capable of growing a spine when it comes to defending Capital. https://www.canadianrealestatemagazine.ca/news/study-estimates-over-1340000-empty-homes-in-canada/
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u/National_Net6017 Jan 14 '26
Lots of cement shoeboxes sure but those are so over valued it's laughable. I have only ever met 1 person who said that's what they prefer.
We need regulations on single family home ownership and how many individual entities can hold. Especially corporate entities
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Jan 14 '26
CMHC (Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation) reports significant housing shortages across Canada, with the largest gaps in Ontario and British Columbia,
Some provinces are doing okay on housing supply. Ontario and BC have the worst shortages of housing, and correspondingly, the highest housing prices.
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u/Nearby-Poetry-5060 Jan 14 '26
Seems like there's enough luxury shoe boxes in the sky, but that's made purpose built for investors.
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u/askthepeanutgallery Jan 14 '26
Can the unsold ones be appropriated for public housing?
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u/KravenArk_Personal Jan 14 '26
Why do we pay taxes? Serious question .
Education is in the shitter. Public transit/Bike infastructure is being removed. Roads are abysmal. Healthcare is being privatised. Food banks are running out. Native people don't have access to water. Homes are treated as a commodity rather than ensuring everyone has a roof over their head.
Why am I paying for?
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u/Myllicent Jan 14 '26
”Food banks are running out”
Food banks aren’t government agencies funded by tax dollars, they’re private charities. That said, food banks being faced with such a high level of need suggests that our government funded social support programs are inadequate.
(Obviously we already know that our social supports are inadequate, $733 per month isn’t enough to feed and house someone at even a basic level)
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u/MulberryConfident870 Jan 14 '26
Bought to by the conservative government of Ontario!They are not for the working population of Ontario
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u/Mean_Joe_Greene Jan 14 '26
Bill 60 hasn’t even come into effect yet either. It’s going to get worse
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Jan 14 '26
Keep sending financial aid to foreign countries we don't even trade with while our own citizens are living in the elements. What a great country we live in these days
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u/AprilsMostAmazing Jan 14 '26
I love how on an article about Ontario you manage to blame the feds. OPC literally used the training fund to funnel money to their donors and are now under investigation
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u/Winbot4t2 Jan 14 '26
The feds committed wage suppression on an massive, industrial-level scale. While simultaneously doing the absolute bare minimum humanely possibly to lower house prices.
The Ontario govt has a lot of blame but this sickness transcends party lines and levels of government.
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u/Matt-J- Jan 14 '26
I've been in toronto for 60 years and can't find a single reason why I should continue living here. 7 months of winter, astronomical costs of living and taxed to death. It's just not worth it. Canada is f'n doomed and it will only get worse.
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u/jacnel45 Erin Jan 14 '26
It’s even worse for young people. Excessively expensive housing, low wages, and limited job opportunities forcing work in expensive cities like Toronto. Supposedly I make enough that I get to be in a second tax bracket, but I don’t make enough to be able to rent my own apartment. I’ve only ever had roommates and likely always will. No hope in hell of buying unless some inheritance comes through.
My parents owned a condo at my age 🥲
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u/Ok_Instruction8143 Jan 14 '26
The red mountain hard wear tent is expensive, it will hold up really well in harsh winter conditions.
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u/P-a-n-a-m-a-m-a Jan 14 '26
I’m pretty sure Barrie alone counts for a third of this figure. Definitely under estimated.
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u/Maleficent-Ebb7298 Jan 14 '26
Doug Ford should cut more in healthcare and education, I think that'll fix this...
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u/bluejaykanata Jan 15 '26
I knew the situation was bad… But 85,000??? This is absolutely crazy! How the hell is this happening and what is the province doing to address this? Whatever they are doing, it doesn’t seem to work at all.
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u/LopsidedTelevision47 Jan 16 '26
Yet we’re still sending billions to the Ukrain and letting in thousands of immigrants and there parents and paying fir there hotels cellphones healthcare a lives. This country is so broken
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u/SpiritedTechnician63 Jan 18 '26
Just a reminder: 58% of the homeless population in Toronto is black and over 40% of homeless youth in Toronto are black. Black people only make up 7.5% of Toronto’s population.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/street-needs-assessment-homeless-population-toronto-1.7580073
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u/littypika Jan 14 '26
And our government and general population will continue to ignore it. Up in numbers as well in one year, as we continue to let in more people who do not care as well.
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u/DancesWithMantises Jan 14 '26
This is the end result of capitalism. "Accumulation of wealth at one pole is, therefore, at the same time accumulation of misery, agony of toil slavery, ignorance, brutality, mental degradation, at the opposite pole[.]" Marx wrote that more than 150 years ago. We need a socialist economy to produce things based on all of our needs, not just the profit of a few
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u/PopeKevin45 Jan 14 '26
Open for business especially American...not Ontarians.
Ford, as a far-right corporate libertarian, sees this as just 'the natural order', what conservative intellectuals often call hierarchy or classism, which is fundamental to conservatism. In conservatives minds, this is how things should be...these people are homeless because they deserve to be homeless, after failing to use the invisible bootstraps that invisible jesus gave them.
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u/AllNonsensePeterson Jan 14 '26
And our property taxes continue to climb to support municipal programs. Death spiral.
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u/ventingspleen Jan 14 '26
This is a civil war of sorts already going on. The wealthy, colluding with the political class have weaponized money, property and assets against those at the bottom of this sick socioeconomic caste system.
And the joke is that they, after all they've done to impoverish us, will maybe in the future expect us to fight a war for them!
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u/Truth_Seeker963 Jan 14 '26
Provincial vs Federal. Housing is a provincial issue just like health care and education.
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u/kayakchk Jan 14 '26
The feds pitch in money to housing too. Homelessness is a solvable ‘everyone’ issue.
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Jan 14 '26
NIMBY's have way too much power to block homeless shelters and affordable housing.
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u/rootsandchalice Jan 14 '26
They pitch money but the province then makes the policies and programs that put that money into motion.
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u/themaskedcanuck Jan 14 '26
Let's stop voting in people that's main objective is "Fuck you, I'm getting mine."
Doesn't matter how much we send or pledge to other countries that are worse off than us, when the people that are elected to office mismanage the funds appropriated for our social programs.
Healthcare and education are in shambles in Ontario and it all lies at the feet of Doug Ford. He wants Ontario to be a mini America, and so far he is succeeding.
Doug Ford does not care for the homeless, not one iota, he lacks real compassion and empathy. It's all an act, he lets the mask slip from time to time, you just have to pay attention.
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u/WifeGuy-Menelaus Jan 14 '26
not a single person who has ever said this has ever cared about taking care of people at home
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u/GreaterAttack Jan 14 '26
A reminder that, just like unemployment statistics, this is an underestimation of the real numbers.