09-13-2025, 12:51 PM
Kitchener Centre MPP’s bill a bid to ‘move the needle’ on housing homeless people
Aislinn Clancy pushes Bill 28 to eliminate homelessness in Ontario within 10 years through data collection, affordable housing and housing-first approach.
Aislinn Clancy is hoping to “move the needle” and provide a template to house people experiencing homelessness within 10 years, as the homeless population continues to rise in Waterloo Region and Ontario.
The Kitchener Centre MPP, along with Etobicoke-Lakeshore MPP Lee Fairclough, the former president of St. Mary’s General Hospital, co-sponsored Bill 28: Homelessness Ends with Housing Act 2025, directing the government to build a data collection and reporting strategy to eliminate homelessness within 10 years.
The bill also aims to ensure affordable housing and “deeply affordable” rental units, investment in new supportive housing, increasing portable housing units, and using a housing-first approach, quickly moving people experiencing homelessness into permanent housing without preconditions.
The bill had its first reading in May and Clancy believes the second reading will be in October or November.
She said the bill came on the heels of a deep dive by the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) into homelessness.
“The provincial government doesn’t fund mechanisms to collect data, so (AMO) did it and I think most of the context was, we shouldn’t be doing this; this isn’t really what we need to do, but we’re calling on the government to do better,” Clancy said.
“There isn’t a strategy to addressing the issue other than Bill 6, which was to put people in jail and fine them $10,000. That’s the solution that I know right now.”
An AMO 2025 report showed more the 80,000 Ontarians experienced homelessness in 2024, up 25 per cent from 2022. That number is expected to climb to 250,000 to 300,000 in the next decade, Clancy said.
In Waterloo Region, Peter Sweeney, region’s commissioner of community services, told the Record that by this winter, there will be 674 funded spaces. According to a count in October 2024, 2,371 people were experiencing homelessness in Waterloo Region, more than double the 1,085 recorded in 2021.
Aislinn Clancy pushes Bill 28 to eliminate homelessness in Ontario within 10 years through data collection, affordable housing and housing-first approach.
Aislinn Clancy is hoping to “move the needle” and provide a template to house people experiencing homelessness within 10 years, as the homeless population continues to rise in Waterloo Region and Ontario.
The Kitchener Centre MPP, along with Etobicoke-Lakeshore MPP Lee Fairclough, the former president of St. Mary’s General Hospital, co-sponsored Bill 28: Homelessness Ends with Housing Act 2025, directing the government to build a data collection and reporting strategy to eliminate homelessness within 10 years.
The bill also aims to ensure affordable housing and “deeply affordable” rental units, investment in new supportive housing, increasing portable housing units, and using a housing-first approach, quickly moving people experiencing homelessness into permanent housing without preconditions.
The bill had its first reading in May and Clancy believes the second reading will be in October or November.
She said the bill came on the heels of a deep dive by the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) into homelessness.
“The provincial government doesn’t fund mechanisms to collect data, so (AMO) did it and I think most of the context was, we shouldn’t be doing this; this isn’t really what we need to do, but we’re calling on the government to do better,” Clancy said.
“There isn’t a strategy to addressing the issue other than Bill 6, which was to put people in jail and fine them $10,000. That’s the solution that I know right now.”
An AMO 2025 report showed more the 80,000 Ontarians experienced homelessness in 2024, up 25 per cent from 2022. That number is expected to climb to 250,000 to 300,000 in the next decade, Clancy said.
In Waterloo Region, Peter Sweeney, region’s commissioner of community services, told the Record that by this winter, there will be 674 funded spaces. According to a count in October 2024, 2,371 people were experiencing homelessness in Waterloo Region, more than double the 1,085 recorded in 2021.