TORONTO, September 10, 2026 – Today, the Financial Accountability Office of Ontario (FAO) released a report that reviews the Government of Ontario’s (the Province’s) homelessness programs. These programs fund emergency shelters; supportive housing; housing assistance, including rent banks and help finding housing; and community outreach and support services.
Overall, provincial spending on homelessness programs is projected to increase from $297 million in 2013-14 to $708 million in 2028-29, which represents an average annual growth rate of 6.0 per cent. More recently, since 2020-21, provincial spending on homelessness programs has fluctuated due to time-limited funding, ranging from a high of $1.2 billion in 2020-21 to a low of $654 million in 2022-23, before reaching a projected $948 million in 2026-27. As time-limited funding expires, the FAO projects that total provincial homelessness program spending will decline to $708 million in 2028-29.
The FAO estimates that the number of households supported by provincial homelessness programs increased from 174,063 households in 2022-23 to 204,876 households in 2025-26, as a result of higher base program spending and time-limited funding. Going forward, the FAO projects that the total number of households supported will gradually decrease to 187,205 households in 2028-29, primarily due to the expiry of time-limited funding and lower inflation-adjusted base program spending.
Finally, the FAO reviewed the known population experiencing homelessness in Ontario, based on the Province’s By-Name List. The FAO estimates that from 2022-23 to 2025-26, the known population experiencing homelessness in a given year increased from 62,252 individuals to an estimated 76,741 individuals, an increase of 14,489 individuals (23.3 per cent). This increase was driven by declining housing affordability and strong population growth, and was partially offset by the expansion of provincial homelessness and housing supports and an increase in federally funded supports for asylum claimants in 2025-26.
Going forward, the FAO projects that the known population experiencing homelessness in a given year will increase by 15.8 per cent to 88,859 individuals in 2028-29. Growth in the population experiencing homelessness is projected to slow compared to the 2022-23 to 2025-26 period as population growth moderates and housing affordability improves, partially offset by declining provincial homelessness program support and slower growth in provincial housing supports for individuals experiencing homelessness.
To learn more, read the full report here.
Quick Facts:
- In March 2021, the Province directed Ontario’s municipalities to implement a By-Name List (BNL) to enumerate and record demographic information about the local population experiencing homelessness and to help connect people experiencing homelessness to services and supports.
- Importantly, the BNL represents the ‘known’ population experiencing homelessness in Ontario and does not represent the total homelessness population. This is due to people experiencing homelessness who are not known to municipalities and individuals who have not consented to be on the BNL.
- In 2024-25, the Province’s By-Name List recorded 73,414 known individuals who experienced homelessness in Ontario, of which 35,339 individuals (48.1 per cent) experienced chronic homelessness, 9,803 individuals (13.4 per cent) were youth and 9,695 individuals (13.2 per cent) identified as Indigenous.
- By service manager area, the majority of people experiencing homelessness in Ontario are in large urban centres. In 2024-25, the City of Toronto recorded the largest number of individuals who experienced homelessness at 19,462. This was followed by the City of Ottawa (9,431), the City of London (4,576), the City of Windsor (4,007) and the City of Hamilton (3,744).
- After adjusting for population size, four of the 10 service manager areas with the highest rates of homelessness were in Northern Ontario. The highest rate of homelessness in 2024-25 was in the Cochrane District at 1,097 individuals experiencing homelessness per 100,000 population. This was followed by Rainy River District (834), the City of Windsor (824), the City of Ottawa (809) and the Nipissing District (804).
About the FAO:
Established by the Financial Accountability Officer Act, 2013, the Financial Accountability Office of Ontario (FAO) provides independent analysis on the state of the Province’s finances, trends in the provincial economy and related matters important to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.
Visit our website or follow us on X and LinkedIn for more information on our reports.
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For further information, please contact:
Sophia Zhu l 416 931 5498 l SZhu@fao-on.org l fao-on.org