Housing and Homelessness Update

AMO and Partners Publish Open Letter to Premier Ford

On Saturday March 18th, AMO and 25 partner organizations published an open letter to Premier Ford in the print edition of the Globe and Mail. This letter calls on the Premier to end homelessness in Ontario through working with municipal, community, health, Indigenous, and economic partners. Local organizations that wish to join our open letter campaign are encouraged to send a letter to Premier Ford, copying AMO on the letter.

This open letter is part of our ongoing call to action which has already seen 30 resolutions sent by municipalities, DSSABs, and municipal organizations to the Premier echoing the same call to end homelessness. AMO members are encouraged to continue sending resolutions, using our social media toolkit, and writing to or meeting with local MPPs using AMO’s key messages.

AMO’s Ending Homelessness Symposium will also be happening on May 3 & 4. This one and a half-day event is open to elected officials; municipal staff; social, health, economic and Indigenous partners; and all interested sector associations. Please visit our website for more information and to register to attend.

Federal Housing Accelerator Fund Launched

On March 17, the federal Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF) was launched. This $4 billion initiative provides incentive funding for municipal governments to fast track the creation of 100,000 new homes across Canada. The program will run until 2026-27.

The application portal for the HAF will open this June. Municipal governments are invited to submit an application through one of the two streams of the fund and are encouraged to think big and be innovative in their approaches. All applications must include an action plan with supply growth targets and initiatives to grow housing supply and speed up housing approvals.

AMO initially presented to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills, Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities on the HAF’s design in May 2022. We are encouraged to see it launched and encourage municipal governments to develop their applications to the HAF to support housing affordability in their communities.

Recognizing that application-based funding cannot solve the problem alone, AMO will continue to also advocate for further housing and homelessness funding in the upcoming provincial and federal budgets.

Province Announces Doubling of Economic Immigration

Over the weekend the province announced it would be doubling the number of economic immigrants it selects in 2025 to over 18,000 to help solve the province’s critical labour shortage in critical industries including skilled trades, technology and health care.

AMO welcomes this announcement and is pleased to see the government taking action to address skilled labour shortages, particularly in the construction trades.