The City of Ottawa is receiving federal funding to combat homelessness and encampments after the Canadian government signed deals with nine municipalities in Ontario and two in Saskatchewan to address homelessness.
The agreements are worth a combined $91 million over two years and are meant to support the municipalities’ encampment response plans.
Those plans include creating new shelter spaces and increasing transitional housing options.
Toronto, Durham, Peel, York, Hamilton, Niagara, Waterloo, Ottawa and Sudbury in Ontario signed deals, as did Saskatoon and Regina.
Housing Minister Nathaniel Erskine-Smith says deals have also been reached with all other provinces and territories, with details to be announced in the coming weeks.
He said the federal government couldn’t sign provincial partnerships with Ontario and Saskatchewan because those provinces wouldn’t match the federal government’s contributions.
