Reports

Homelessness

The Final Report of the Peel Regional Task Force on Homelessness - Appendices

Appendices C - Provincial Task Force on Homelessness

The Provincial Task Force on Homelessness was appointed in January of 1998 and reported in October of that year. The Task Force was made up of 5 MPPs, the Parliamentary Assistants to the Provincial Ministers perceived to be most related to the issue of homelessness (Community and Social Services, Health, Municipal Affairs and Housing, Correctional Services and Native Affairs).

At the same time as the Task Force was established the Provincial Government announced the allocation of $4 million to support the recommendations of the Task Force and $2.5 million for mental health outreach programs in Toronto, Ottawa, London and Hamilton. (On March 23, 1999, on the eve of the Symposium on Housing and Homelessness, the Minister of Community and Social Services increased the fund by $6 million.)

The mandate of the Provincial Task Force was:

• to develop recommendations on how the province might better support municipalities in improving their response to homelessness, including priorities for allocating the $4 million
• to develop responses which build on community partnerships with all sectors; and
• to develop initiatives to help keep public streets and areas safe.

The Provincial Task Force carried out a consultation process in 10 municipalities across Ontario; they heard from 400 individuals representing 150 organizations. The Task Force found that there are many reasons why people are homeless, including a combination of individual, personal and societal failures. The Task Force identified five key groups of people who are prone to homelessness:

• single adults with drug and alcohol dependencies
• released offenders
• people living with mental health issues
• families
• young people (including teen mothers)

The Provincial Task Force expressed a concern that refugee claimants and sponsored immigrants end up being supported by municipalities rather than by the federal government.

The Provincial Task Force concluded that public concern about homelessness is growing; people are increasingly concerned about public safety and the impact of homeless people on business and community life. The Task Force identified three priorities for action:

• moving people off the street into hostels
• moving people into permanent housing
• prevention of homelessness.

The Provincial Task Force called on local communities to develop partnership approaches involving government, community organizations, faith communities, business groups and the private sector. The Task Force stated that all three levels of government share responsibility for new rental housing and identified the roles of each level:

Federal role

• tax reductions (e.g. GST)
• lower mortgage insurance fees
• renew MURB (tax incentive Program)

• facilitating partnerships
• developing innovative models
• advocate for federal reforms
• Municipal role
• enforce rooming house standards
• encourage partnerships
• remove planning barriers
• lower property taxes for rental housing
• reduce inspection duplication
• municipal construction standards not higher than provincial

The Provincial Task Force expressed its concern about fragmentation of services for homeless people moving from one jurisdiction to another; there are inconsistent levels of service and no comprehensive local planning to address the issues. The Task Force, however, decided that municipalities are best suited to manage the service system. At the same time the municipalities need clearer provincial expectations to reduce the barriers caused by Program silos and to provide flexible support.