How to Solve Housing Insecurity in Toronto
Although homelessness seems like a hopeless issue in the city, it is not something we can never solve.
Just as you’re walking down Yonge Street, you see a man laying down on the sidewalk. He’s holding a “Need Change” sign and looks into your eyes, pleading for the last toonie you may have in your wallet.
This is not an uncommon sight on the streets of Toronto, but it is still a heartbreaking one, nonetheless. Homelessness has been a contentious topic for decades and is a major problem, invading the city. Many individuals are forced to sleep in the cold, crowded shelters, on buses, or even out on the streets due to the lack of affordable housing and support from the city’s counsel. From 2016 to late 2018, the average number of people using the city’s emergency shelters on any given night leapt 60 per cent to more than 6,600. There are many suggestions as to how to tackle the issue of homelessness in the city best, but the ones that show a lot of promise are providing adequate housing assistance and allocating funds and resources to support housing initiatives.
Providing Adequate Housing Assistance
If adequate housing assistance is provided to those that need it, it has the potential to reduce the demand for emergency shelters in the city. Some examples of this are the Permanent Supported Housing provided and the Housing First initiative.
Permanent Supported Housing is a form of housing assistance that involves combining housing with support services catered to tenants with physical/mental illnesses, developmental disabilities or addictions. As a result of this form of assistance, it will encourage tenants to live independently, while giving them the proper support that they need to function on a regular basis, which is needed for stable living.
“Both of these forms of housing assistance tackle the notion that if those that are in need of additional services… have some form of housing, it will reduce the need for shelters and reduce the rates of homelessness in general.”
Likewise, Housing First is an initiative that provides housing to people with mental health issues and drug addictions before treatment, which has drastically decreased homelessness in the city. This has been implemented in Medicine Hat, Alberta, and in the span of six years, has resulted in the secure housing of 875 homeless people. The population of Medicine Hat is extremely small compared to Toronto (about 0.02% of the current population of Toronto), but the initiative still has potential to be successful in the city.
Both of these forms of housing assistance tackle the notion that if those that are in need of additional services, such as counselling and addiction treatment, have some form of housing, it will reduce the need for shelters and reduce the rates of homelessness in general.
Allocating Resources for Housing Initiatives
Another way the issue of housing insecurity can be confronted is to properly allocate resources for housing initiatives. Some examples of this are the Seattle Housing Levy in Seattle, Washington and the Surplus Land that may be available in Toronto.
For the past 40 years, Seattle has had an affordable housing levy, which has resulted in 12,500 affordable apartments, helped 800 families purchase their first home and has provided emergency rent assistance to thousands of families. Similar to the point brought up earlier of population differences for the Housing First initiative, Seattle has a population that is a quarter of Toronto’s population, but with a greater population means more funds going to the levy, if it was to be implemented in Toronto. This would result in more housing opportunities for families and individuals in the city.
Similarly, there is currently surplus public land in Toronto that could be used in order to build more housing units, and the city would be able to prioritize based on public needs. If surplus land is used for housing, it would not have a major effect on those already living in the city. It would also able to accommodate for the growing population.
Both of these examples take advantage of opportunities that are already existing and use them to benefit those that need it the most.
Although housing insecurity and homelessness is a major issue in Toronto, with it affecting many people, both newcomers and native-born, there are possible solutions for it available. If those solutions are implemented and effectively run, housing insecurity could be a thing of the distant past.