85,000 people in the province, including over 20,000 children and youth, are without a home.

By Gazette Staff

January 14th, 2026

BURLINGTON, ON

New data shows more than 85,000 people in the province, including over 20,000 children and youth, are without a home. Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles, and Ontario NDP Shadow Minister for Housing Catherine McKenney say the Ford government has no real plan to stop the crisis from getting worse.

This is what they call “living rough’.

Stiles said the scale and speed of this increase should seriously alarm every Ontarian.

“Homelessness in Ontario has increased by nearly eight percent in just one singular year and by almost 50 percent since the pandemic under the Ford government,” said Stiles. “This crisis didn’t happen overnight. This issue has been allowed to spiral out of control while housing wait lists grow longer, and more people are pushed into encampments.

McKenney said the province’s lack of response is failing those in desperate need.

“People are falling into homelessness faster than they can be housed,” said McKenney. “We all know that breaking up and clearing encampments doesn’t solve anything — it just moves people from place to place. Municipalities are begging for help, experts have laid out the solutions, and the government is still refusing to act at the scale required.”

This problem has grown by more than 8% in one year.

Both Stiles and McKenney pointed to the report’s warning that homelessness could more than double in the next decade without urgent and immediate action.

“Ontario needs serious investment in supportive housing, rent-geared-to-income homes, and prevention, not more delay, denial, or political talking points,” said McKenney.

“Homelessness is a policy failure,” concluded Stiles. “And it is one this government must finally be held accountable for fixing.”