By: Saeed Akhtar, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Tilbury Times Reporter
The Municipality of Chatham-Kent is joining mayors across Ontario in calling on the provincial government to urgently increase funding and supports to address the growing homelessness, mental health and addictions crisis impacting communities of all sizes.
Mayor Darrin Canniff has signed on to Ontario’s Big City Mayors’ (OBCM) renewed Solve the Crisis campaign, which highlights the pressures municipalities face as frontline responders to a worsening humanitarian and community safety emergency.
At OBCM’s meeting recently, member mayors passed a motion urgently calling on the Government of Ontario to declare a state of emergency related to homelessness driven by the mental health and addictions crisis. The declaration would acknowledge the severity of the situation and enable a more coordinated, properly resourced response across the province.
OBCM and its member municipalities, including Chatham-Kent, are calling on the province to expand mental health and addictions funding, increase the number of HART Hubs in communities facing growing needs, establish a provincial winter response plan, and develop a long-term strategy to address homelessness and support municipalities delivering front-line services.
“Municipalities are doing everything we can, but we are past the point where local resources can’t keep pace with the need,” said Mayor Darrin Canniff. “Here in Chatham-Kent, we see the impacts of homelessness, mental health and addictions every day. Our staff, community partners, local businesses and first responders are stretched thin. We need the province to step up with long-term, sustainable funding and a coordinated plan so we can provide the supports our most vulnerable residents deserve.”
Last year, OBCM launched Solve the Crisis to spotlight the increasing number of Ontarians struggling with homelessness, mental health challenges and addictions. Municipalities, service providers and thousands of residents joined the call for stronger provincial action. In response, the province introduced the HART Hub program, which consolidated supports under one ministry and created community-based hubs designed to ease pressure on emergency rooms and first responders.
While these initiatives have been positive steps, funding remains significantly below what municipal leaders say is required. According to the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO), ending chronic homelessness in the province will require an investment of $11 billion over 10 years, focused on prevention, supportive housing and sustainable exits from homelessness.
Ontario’s Big City Mayors represents 29 municipalities with populations over 100,000, advocating for policy solutions that support nearly 70 per cent of Ontario’s residents. Chatham-Kent participates as part of a broader municipal coalition recognizing that homelessness, mental health and addictions are not challenges limited to large urban centres; they affect communities of every size.
