The District of Parry Sound Social Services Administration Board says growing housing pressures in Northern Ontario are driving long-term homelessness in the region.
This comes following a detailed, 52-page report released earlier this month which provides an update on the human and financial cost of Ontario’s homelessness crisis.
The updated findings show that homelessness continues to rise faster than housing supply, prevention and support systems can respond – with Northern Ontario experiencing the most server impacts.
New figures released by the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) show homelessness grew by more than 37% in Northern Ontario in just one year, compared to 7.8 per cent provincially.
DSSAB officials say limited availability of deeply affordable, supportive, and community housing is restricting exits from homelessness and increasing the number of people remaining unhoused for longer periods.
In 2025, 13,104 households were on community housing waitlists in Northern Ontario, up from 8,467 in 2021 – a more than 50 per cent increase in just four years.
“Here in the District of Parry Sound we have an affordability crisis and are seeing firsthand how quickly homelessness is growing in communities that simply don’t have the housing supply or service capacity to keep up,” said Rick Zanussi, Chair of the District of Parry Sound Social Services Administration Board (DSSAB). “Our district’s rural geography, aging housing stock, and limited rental market make it even harder for people to find and keep stable homes.
DSSAB supports the Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities (FONOM) and the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) calls for long-term provincial and federal investment in deeply affordable and supportive housing, mental health and addictions services, and income supports.
“This data confirms what our frontline workers and community partners have been telling us: without coordinated, housing-led investment, more people will continue to fall through the cracks, and the impacts will be felt across our entire community,” said Zanussi.
Without changes to the current conditions, the report projects that homelessness in Northern Ontario will continue to rise through 2035 – reaching approximately 16,900 people under steady economic conditions and more than 27,500 people in an economic downturn.
