WELLINGTON COUNTY – Unhoused individuals across Wellington County are staying in temporary housing solutions longer than they did prior to the pandemic.
Providing an update on affordable housing during the Wednesday Wellington County social services committee meeting, Mark Poste, director of housing for Wellington County, credited the increase to how “intimidating” the current housing and rental market is.
“Although we have a large amount of affordable housing stock in our community, it certainly does not meet the needs,” said Poste. “(The waitlist for social housing) is almost equal to the number of units total that we support across the community.”
The number of households waiting for social housing in Guelph-Wellington rose from 1,986 in 2019, to 3,377 households at the end of 2022.
“Normally we would have a bit more of a turnover of people moving in and out of our system and today we’re not seeing that because of the affordability pressures,” said Poste. “No one really wants to go out and test the market … they’d rather stay where they are, where rent is consistent.”
Poste blamed the post-pandemic increase on high rent and inconsistent rent control affecting housing stability.
“Once a family is forced to leave (an affordable) unit, all of a sudden, that unit is no longer subject to rent controls and it can go up,” said Poste. “So we want to make sure (the rent is) stable for the household but also keep that unit as affordable as possible.”
The number of people helped with overdue rent and utility fees increased from 143 in 2021 to 315 in 2022, with a similar increase seen in first-and-last-month rent support, up to 303 from 134.
“We all see it every day in everything we’re buying but particularly in the rental market, units are becoming unaffordable,” said Poste. “The amount of support needed in the community to keep people safely housed has definitely risen.”
Luisa Artuso, social services administrator, recommended the county consider what they're doing to ensure individuals receive appropriate social services and can be functional in "a way that's functional to society."
"It’s very complex but to lump all of this onto housing to say that social housing is going to address (these issues) is not the answer,” said Artuso. “(We’ve had conversations) about housing in that what’s being built is far more expensive and far beyond the reach of people that are working minimum wage jobs...what that’s actually doing is adding logs onto the fire of a problem that has been there for a while.”
On average, 79 individuals used a shelter per night in 2022, up from 51 pre-pandemic; 520 people in total used emergency shelters, and 145 people were unsheltered.
However, since hitting 20,000 houses in the Build for Zero campaign, 1,073 chronically homeless individuals were permanently housed.
“Only the biggest communities across Canada have actually met that level of housing for people experiencing chronic homelessness,” said Poste. “It’s something we’re very proud of.”
As the council considers future population growth, Artuso stressed the importance of ensuring rural communities receive the same treatment as urban in terms of affordability and social services.
“People experiencing homelessness in rural areas is really difficult to see more than in urban areas,” said Artuso. “We need to get more strategic as to finding out who those individuals are…because they’re not as visible and it’s a large geographic area.”
As of March 2023, there were 134 individuals experiencing chronic homelessness across the county, which points to an overall reduction of just over 22 per cent from the division’s set baseline.
“When we leave this room today, you’ll see a couple dozen or so folks and wonder if they’re housed and how they’re making out, and sometimes I can see how the public can perceive that there’s nothing happening,” said Coun. Jeff Duncan. “It’s really refreshing to see that there are successful approaches that can be taken (to address chronic homelessness and affordable housing) and I’m glad to see it come to light.”
Isabel Buckmaster is the Local Journalism Initiative reporter for GuelphToday. LJI is a federally-funded program.
