Where to get help

In Ontario, service managers are responsible for:

  • providing shelter or housing and supports for people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness
  • developing a by-name list to collect detailed information to help match people experiencing homelessness with local housing and supports

Service managers receive funding from the province through the Homelessness Prevention Program to develop and deliver programs and supports to address homelessness that best meet local needs.

The provincial government does not directly deliver supports for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness. If you need help, please contact your local service manager.

In addition, Indigenous program administrators receive funding from the province to develop and deliver the Indigenous Supportive Housing Program to address homelessness.

If you are an Indigenous person living off-reserve, you may also wish to contact one of the Indigenous program administrators:

By-name lists

By-name lists are a real-time list of people experiencing homelessness. They help better connect people with the services and supports they need. The lists:

  • include information about the needs of each person
  • help service managers understand homelessness in their communities and track changes in service needs over time
  • help service managers more effectively coordinate and prioritize service delivery
  • provide information about the number and location of people experiencing homelessness in a community

In March 2021, each service manager was asked to put in place a local by-name list. As of January 2022, by-name lists are in use across the province. 

Programs we fund

Homelessness Prevention Program

The Homelessness Prevention Program (HPP) is a provincially-funded program that supports Ontario’s 47 municipal service managers to provide affordable housing and support services for people at risk of or experiencing homelessness. The objective of the program is to support service managers in preventing, addressing and reducing homelessness, including chronic homelessness.

The program is intended to be flexible and streamlined, so that service managers can:

  • target funding where community need is greatest
  • make the most impact on reducing and preventing homelessness

As part of the program, service managers are required to have in place a by-name list that meets provincial requirements. New by-name list requirements under the program build on earlier requirements and include:

  • updating information on the by-name list more frequently to keep information as real-time as possible
  • involving more community partners in the by-name list process to ensure a broad understanding of homelessness in each community
  • expanding outreach to connect with as many people experiencing homelessness as possible
  • collecting key demographic information and tracking the movement of people to better understand who is experiencing homelessness

Under the HPP, service managers can create their own local programs under four broad service categories.

Emergency shelter solutions

These programs are for people who are experiencing homelessness or in crisis.

Supportive housing

Supportive housing combines long-term housing assistance with individualized, flexible, and ongoing support services (for example, counselling, life skills training, activities of daily living, behaviour supports) to enable people to live as independently as possible in their community.

Community outreach and support services

Providing services and supports, such as:

  • community outreach
  • food security programs
  • case management and referrals for people on by-names lists
  • ongoing supports and services for people not residing in supportive housing

Housing assistance

This refers to short-term or emergency assistance including:

  • rent banks
  • non-financial housing assistance
  • long-term housing assistance

Service Managers may also use HPP funding towards capital expenditures to support the creation and renewal of supportive housing and emergency shelters.

Service managers are required to complete an annual investment plan outlining how they plan to use their HPP allocations each year for ministry approval.

Indigenous Supportive Housing Program

Through the Indigenous Supportive Housing Program, the province partners with Indigenous program administrators to deliver supportive housing for Indigenous people living off-reserve.

This program provides housing assistance, such as rent supplements and housing allowances, and support services to Indigenous people who are homeless or at imminent risk of homelessness, including:

  • individuals experiencing chronic homelessness
  • youth homelessness
  • homelessness following transitions from provincially-funded institutions and service systems (for example, hospitals and prisons)

This program also includes targeted funding for mental health and addictions supports.

Social Services Relief Fund

In direct response to the COVID‑19 pandemic, Ontario launched the Social Services Relief Fund (SSRF) in March 2020, which was specifically created to protect the health and safety of the province’s most vulnerable people during COVID‑19. The fund helped service managers and Indigenous program administrators to:

  • enhance safety in emergency shelters and other congregate care settings
  • create longer-term housing solutions, including more community and supportive housing
  • support the short-term critical needs of vulnerable Ontarians, including those who are homeless or at risk of homelessness

Service managers and Indigenous program administrators could use the SSRF to:

  • leverage motel and hotel spaces to support physical distancing of shelter residents
  • create new innovative models of transitional and supportive housing
  • enhance outreach services
  • purchase personal protective equipment (PPE) and cleaning supplies
  • provide rental assistance to help prevent more people from becoming homeless

While the program concluded in December 2022, projects that received SSRF funding are still being formally announced.