York Region continues to take action to address housing and homelessness
Newmarket – York Region released the Housing Solutions 2022 Progress Report, advancing the goals of the 10-year Housing and Homelessness Plan and reinforcing the Region’s commitment to addressing housing affordability and advancing homelessness prevention.
Like many jurisdictions across Canada, York Region is facing ongoing housing affordability challenges with limited affordable ownership and rental housing options and rising housing costs. The Region has funded over 60% of the capital costs to develop new community and emergency housing projects. However, the Region can no longer carry the majority of capital costs required for new development while building at the scale and speed needed to address housing needs.
“Working with community partners and all levels of government to build complete communities with a full range of supports remains a critical priority for York Regional Council to continue to help people to find and keep housing,” said York Region Chairman and CEO Wayne Emmerson. “To support new community housing development and better enable the Region to achieve its goal to double community housing growth, we are requesting the Federal and Provincial governments to commit to two-thirds of the total cost, representing one-third from each level of government.”
Highlights of the 2022 progress report include:
- Increasing community housing supply in the Region, including the construction of 265 new units in the City of Markham and 97 new units in the Town of Whitchurch-Stouffville
- Helping 629 households from the wait list access rent subsidies, the highest number of households assisted in a single year since the wait list was established
- Launching the first phase of the online subsidized housing offer process, matching wait list applicants with available units more quickly, reducing vacancy loss costs and improving customer experience
- Expanding the Outreach Program and supporting 572 people experiencing or at risk of homelessness
- Continuing the Emergency Housing Central Intake Line pilot and providing a 24/7 central access point to emergency housing services and information for people experiencing homelessness
- Expanding the Community Paramedicine program to five additional seniors’ community housing sites, serving 257 clients and completing 787 visits
- Completing Passage House, an 18-unit transitional housing development for men experiencing homelessness in the Town of East Gwillimbury and the upcoming completion of The Bridge, an eight-unit transitional housing development in the Town of Georgina
“The Region continues to advance the goals of Housing Solutions through the 2023 action plan. As 2023 marks the last year of the current 10-year housing and homelessness plan, work is underway to develop a new 10-year plan,” said City of Vaughan Regional Councillor Gino Rosati, Chair of the Region’s Community and Health Services. “The new plan will focus on increasing the supply of affordable and community housing options and enhancing housing stability supports to address homelessness.”
The new plan will be presented to Regional Council in 2024. Learn more about housing and homelessness in York Region at york.ca/housing
The Regional Municipality of York consists of nine local cities and towns and provides a variety of programs and services to more than 1.2 million residents and 55,600 businesses with more than 615,000 employees. More information about the Region’s key service areas is available at york.ca/regionalservices
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Media Contact:
Eman Ali, Corporate Communications, The Regional Municipality of York
Cell: 289-231-1318
Email: @email
