Bill 28 Original (PDF)
EXPLANATORY NOTE
The Bill enacts the Homelessness Ends with Housing Act, 2025. The purpose of the Act is to establish the Government of Ontario’s vision to eliminate homelessness in a transparent and accountable manner. The Act provides that the Government of Ontario must design, implement and maintain a homelessness elimination strategy that aims to eliminate homelessness within 10 years and sets out the objectives respecting the design, implementation and maintenance of that strategy.
The Act requires the Minister to establish a Homelessness Advisory Committee that will make recommendations to the Government of Ontario on how to achieve the objectives of the strategy. The Minister is also required to prepare an annual report describing how the Government of Ontario is working to achieve the objectives.
Bill 28 2025
An Act establishing a homelessness elimination strategy
Preamble
In 2024, more than 80,000 Ontarians were homeless. If appropriate measures are not taken, there could be as many as 300,000 homeless people in the next decade. Many Ontarians agree that homelessness is an important issue that should be addressed by prioritizing housing and supports to help people transition out of homelessness. Studies have shown that not taking appropriate action is also the more expensive approach – increased health care costs, incarceration and emergency shelters all result in costs that are higher than investing in the housing and supports that are needed.
The Government of Ontario is committed to ensuring every person is treated with dignity and has access to housing that meets their needs.
Therefore, His Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:
Definitions
1 In this Act,
“deeply affordable rental unit” means a housing unit for which the person who rents the unit does not pay more than 30 per cent of their gross income; (“logement locatif très abordable”)
“Minister” means the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing or such other member of the Executive Council to whom responsibility for the administration of this Act may be assigned or transferred under the Executive Council Act. (“ministre”)
Purpose
2 The purpose of this Act is to establish the Government of Ontario’s vision to eliminate homelessness in a transparent and accountable manner.
Homelessness elimination strategy
3 (1) The Government of Ontario shall design, implement and maintain a homelessness elimination strategy that aims to eliminate homelessness within 10 years.
Objectives of strategy
(2) The Government of Ontario shall have the following objectives in the design, implementation and maintenance of the strategy:
1. Building a data collection and reporting system that adequately captures the trends in people experiencing homelessness with respect to their health and outstanding needs.
2. Ensuring housing targets will lead to improved housing affordability and ensuring a plan is put in place to create adequate availability of deeply affordable rental units.
3. Investing in new supportive housing.
4. Increasing portable housing supports by increasing funding to the Canada-Ontario Housing Benefit program.
5. Using a housing-first approach that involves quickly moving people experiencing homelessness into independent and permanent housing without preconditions.
Advisory committee
4 (1) The Minister shall, no more than 90 days following the day this Act comes into force, establish an advisory committee under the name of Homelessness Advisory Committee in English and comité consultatif sur l’itinérance in French.
Composition
(2) The Homelessness Advisory Committee shall be composed of no more than 11 members appointed by the Minister.
Same
(3) The Minister shall make all reasonable efforts to ensure that the composition of the Homelessness Advisory Committee reflects the diversity of people experiencing homelessness, and shall ensure that the Advisory Committee includes members from housing advocacy groups and individuals who have experienced homelessness.
Functions
(4) The Homelessness Advisory Committee shall make recommendations to the Government of Ontario on how to achieve the objectives set out in subsection 3 (2).
Report by Minister
5 (1) The Minister shall prepare an annual report describing how the Government of Ontario is working to achieve the objectives set out in subsection 3 (2) in the design, implementation and maintenance of the homelessness elimination strategy.
Contents of report
(2) The report shall include such information as the Minister considers appropriate and the following information:
1. The total number of unhoused individuals in Ontario in the first report and the number of individuals in Ontario who became unhoused since the last report in each subsequent report.
2. The number of unhoused individuals in Ontario who died in the past twelve months in the first report and who died since the last report in each subsequent report.
3. Instances of previously unhoused individuals in Ontario who found housing but who became unhoused again in the past twelve months in the first report and who became unhoused again since the last report in each subsequent report.
4. The number of available supportive, transitional and deeply affordable rental units in Ontario.
5. Such other information as may be prescribed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council.
Report to be made public
(3) The Minister shall make the first report available to the public no later than one year following the day this Act comes into force and each subsequent report no later than one year following the day the most recent report was published.
Regulations
6 The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations prescribing information for the purposes of paragraph 5 of subsection 5 (2).
Commencement
7 This Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.
Short title
8 The short title of this Act is the Homelessness Ends with Housing Act, 2025.