A report released by the Northern Policy Institute is out with several strategies to address what it calls a homelessness, mental health, and addictions crisis across the region.
The paper was completed in partnership with the Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association, Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities, and the Northern Ontario Service Deliverers Association.
The findings show that the Kenora District has larger homeless populations than some of Ontario’s largest municipalities per 1,000 people and opioid-related emergency department visits and deaths have risen considerably in recent years.
The report notes municipalities are constrained in their budgets to spend additional dollars on homelessness, mental health and addictions.
It contains eight strategies to help move local communities forward.
They include:
1. Provide long-term funding for capital repairs on community housing units
2. Amend the Health Protection and Promotion Act, 1990 to define a Northern Service Hub and provide additional funding to make it available in communities
3. Establish a joint action taskforce to collect data and intelligence on the underlying and systematic retention issues of health care professionals in Northern Ontario
4. Support new and existing Housing First programs
5. Support new and existing culturally sensitive community housing facilities for Indigenous peoples
6. Establish a Northern Mental Health and Addictions Centre to address the unique challenges of service and program delivery in Northern Ontario
7. Contract a third-party operator for interfacility patient transfers to relieve the workload of paramedics
8. Establish mandated mobile crisis intervention teams in municipalities throughout Northern Ontario
