Niagara Receiving $3,143,700 in Provincial Support to Restore Safety to Parks and Public Spaces

Beamsville – The Ontario government has begun flowing up to $75.5 million in provincial funding to municipalities across the province – including $3,143,700 for the Regional Municipality of Niagara – in order to help them wind down encampments in public spaces by creating more emergency shelter spaces and affordable housing units. These accommodations will provide vulnerable people with appropriate short and long-term housing alternatives to encampments and help restore safety and order to Ontario’s parks and other public spaces.

“In addition to historic increases to homelessness prevention funding, as well as announcing a new Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment Hub, our government is supporting Niagara with over $3.1 million to restore public safety and protect our most vulnerable,” said Sam Oosterhoff, MPP for Niagara West.

“This investment will ensure our public spaces across the region are safe and welcoming for all residents.”

“We know that the only true, long-term solution to homelessness is housing,” said Jim Bradley, Chair of the Regional Municipality of Niagara.

“This significant provincial funding will go a long way toward that goal and will help the Regional Municipality of Niagara and its partners expand a wide range of programs that help those most vulnerable in our community transition out of homelessness and into stable, long-term housing.”

“Our government has delivered significant support to municipalities to address the challenges encampments can pose to public safety across Ontario,” said Hon. Paul Calandra, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.

“Mayors have asked us for additional help, and we have been clear that we will provide funding to municipalities that show results in winding down these sites. We can no longer accept encampments as a place to deal with mental health and addiction issues.”

The funding that is being flowed to municipalities includes:

• $50 million for ready-to-build affordable housing projects, allocated based on how close a project is to completion and its value for money, to help projects near completion but in need of additional targeted funding open their doors faster.

• $20 million to expand shelter capacity and create additional temporary accommodation spaces.

• $5.5 million to top up the Canada-Ontario Housing Benefit to immediately free up emergency shelter spaces for people living in encampments by helping people living in shelters move into longer-term housing. This funding builds on the nearly $400 million invested in the Canada-Ontario Housing Benefit between 2023 and 2024.

As part of the government’s commitment to ensuring Ontarians can safely use our shared public spaces, the province is working with local service managers to direct funding into communities where it is needed most. By helping municipalities and other project partners create more emergency shelter and affordable housing spaces, Ontario is helping vulnerable people move out of crisis situations and into stable accommodations.