TORONTO – Ontario municipalities will be getting more than half a billion dollars from the province to help people and families at risk of homelessness.
The provincial government has announced funding of $587 million over two years for services such as emergency shelters, financial assistance to prevent eviction, transitional housing and food banks.
Toronto will receive more than one-third of the funding, as the province notes it is the most populous city in Ontario with “a large and diverse number of families and individuals at risk of homelessness.”
The money is part of the Liberal government’s lofty goal of ending homelessness.
The initiative, which comes with no target date, was launched after the Ontario government failed to meet a five-year target of reducing child poverty by 25 per cent, laying the blame at the feet of the federal government.
The Liberals promised in 2008 to lift 90,000 children out of poverty within the next five years by providing increased benefits for low-income families and improved public education programs.
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