Background: Tomorrow (Thursday (11 September 2025) York Region's Housing and Homelessness Committee will consider a new report on the characteristics of homeless people living in the Region. Who are they? Where do they come from? How did they become homeless in the first place? 
The Region in partnership with United Way Greater Toronto conducted a "point-in-time" count of the homeless over a 24 hour period between 26-27 November 2024. The staff commentary is here.
The Count found that 878 people in York Region were experiencing homelessness - a 166% increase compared with the 329 in 2021. Covid is likely to have depressed the count in that year.
Voluntary Survey
Of the 878, just under half (428) completed a voluntary survey which tells us, amongst other things:
60% of the survey respondents are male
75% are single
42% say they have always lived in York region
56% say they have mental health issues
and 15% had been in foster care or in a youth group home at some point in their lives.
600 homeless people in Barrie alone
The number of homeless people in relation to the population of the Region (1.25M) is growing but is likely to be a gross underestimate. To the north of us, the city authorities In Barrie estimate there are around 600 homeless people.
Barrie licenses and regulates lodging or rooming houses but demand for such accommodation clearly outstrips supply.
Here in York Region there is only one lodging house regulated and licensed by the Region and it is only listed as such because they give it some kind of funding.
In Toronto, which is grappling with its own homelessness crisis, there are any number of lodging houses but, clearly, more are needed.
Kicked into the long grass
In Newmarket the Town is considering regulating and licensing lodging houses but this could take forever. It was first mentioned as a possibility 14 years ago and it was kicked into the long grass. Nothing happened.
The Town tells me it is aware that Toronto, Mississagua, Kitchener, Brampton, Peterborough, Windsor, Oshawa and Barrie license lodging or rooming houses.
No-one pretends that more lodging houses across the Province can solve the problem of homelessness on their own - but, surely, they can be part of the solution.
Seems to me there is no reason why Newmarket cannot follow other municipalities and take steps now to incorporate policies in its Official Plan and Zoning By Laws.
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