Ontario Greens Deputy Leader and Kitchener Center MPP Aislinn Clancy and Etobicoke – Lakeshore MPP, Lee Fairclough, unveil bold housing-first plan to tackle homelessness

May 27, 2025

TORONTO — This morning, Ontario Greens Deputy Leader and Kitchener Centre MPP Aislinn Clancy and Etobicoke – Lakeshore MPP, Lee Fairclough announced their co-sponsored Private Members’ Bill aimed at addressing the homelessness crisis in Ontario. They were joined by stakeholders Nadine Green from A Better Tent City, Peter Martin from the Toronto Alliance to End Homelessness, and David Alton from the Social Development Centre Waterloo Region along with a number of lived expertise consultants from the Waterloo Region.

“Last year, more than 81,000 people in Ontario experienced homelessness – a staggering 25% jump in just two years,” said Clancy. “This is not leadership. This is neglect.”

Clancy cited a recent report from the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO), which identifies the root causes of the crisis as chronic underinvestment in deeply affordable housing and mental health and addictions treatment, compounded by economic pressures faced by communities in recent years.

“We know the solution to homelessness — it’s housing. Safe, stable, affordable homes for everyone,” Clancy said. “Instead of criminalizing homelessness and punishing vulnerable people, it’s time to lead with evidence, compassion, and real investment in housing.”

She pointed to Ontario’s plummeting housing starts — now at their lowest level since 1955 — and the province’s failure to build any new social housing since 1995 as proof that the Ford government is failing to take meaningful action.

“That’s why I am proud to be working across party lines with MPP Fairclough, to introduce legislation that sets out a plan to eliminate homelessness in Ontario within 10 years, using an evidence-based, housing-first approach.”

“I am pleased to co-sponsor this bill with MPP Clancy,” said Fairclough.

“Our communities and families deserve nothing less than legislators who will work across party lines to implement the solutions that are at hand to stop and reverse chronic homelessness,”

“The Ford government’s current approach to housing and homelessness is failing Ontarians,” Clancy concluded. “This bill takes a different path — one rooted in evidence, compassion, and practical solutions — to end homelessness and improve the lives of tens of thousands across the province.”

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