Ontario Restoring Safety to Parks and Public Spaces

Province taking action to end encampments and crack down on public use of illegal drugs while investing $75.5 million in homelessness prevention

TORONTO — The Ontario government will introduce legislation today that will, if passed, better protect community safety by providing municipalities and police with new resources and enforcement tools to address the growing problem of homeless encampments and crack down on illegal drug use in parks and public spaces. Ontario is also investing $75.5 million to further support homelessness prevention and provide people living in encampments with access to reasonable alternative accommodation. This is in addition to the province’s ongoing $700 million investment in homelessness prevention programs each year, as well as the $378 million the province is investing in 19 Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment (HART) Hubs.