Will homeless hubs attract an influx of people from other cities seeking support services in London?
CTV
As London prepares to launch its quarter-billion dollar plan to address homelessness, concern has been raised at city hall that its success might draw people from other Ontario communities.
As London prepares to launch its quarter-billion dollar plan to address homelessness, concern has been raised at city hall that its success might draw people from other Ontario communities.
On Wednesday, council’s Strategic Priorities and Policy Committee (SPPC) considered a motion by Deputy Mayor Shawn Lewis and Coun. Elizabeth Peloza aimed at addressing the relocation of people experiencing homelessness from other Ontario cities to London, sometimes under false pretense, or even against their will.
“More than a quarter of the individuals that (have been) spoken to through the diversion process identified that they are not in London by their own choice. That has to be a concern,” Lewis told his council colleagues.
London’s Whole of Community Response to Homelessness will eventually create 12 to 15 low barrier service hubs and up to 600 supportive housing units. The city aims to have up to five hubs and 100 housing units open by the end of this year.
“One of the issues that I have heard from people in the community,” recounted Lewis. “(Is) that this is going to be successful and we’re going to see an even greater influx of people who are coming to London for services because they can’t get them in their own community.”
However, Mayor Josh Morgan tells CTV News that he’s already coordinating with the Ontario Big City Mayors Caucus to ensure municipalities are aligned in how they will addressing homelessness.
Morgan says a tiny home project in Kitchener-Waterloo and improvements at encampments in Hamilton didn’t result in an influx of migration to those cities.
