TORONTO - A philanthropic organization says it鈥檚 donating $25 million to establish a new system for tackling homelessness in Toronto that will use an evidence-based approach to move people off the streets and into supportive housing.
The Slaight Family Foundation says the money will go to a St. Michael鈥檚 Hospital research centre, as well as non-profit United Way Greater Toronto, to establish the Slaight Family Housing Lab 鈥 a program that aims to put roofs over people鈥檚 heads while providing wraparound services.
Dr. Stephen Hwang, director of St. Michael鈥檚 Hospital鈥檚 MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions, says the new program draws on the centre鈥檚 research into the benefits of a housing-first approach.聽
Hwang says the housing lab will work with the City of Toronto to identify open supportive housing units while case management teams work with people living on the street to get them ready to move.
Hwang says the pre-move help can include getting people identification and ensuring they鈥檙e in good tax standing so they can be eligible for supportive housing units and other benefits.聽
The wait list for social housing in Toronto was more than 100,000 names long in 2025, but Hwang says he鈥檚 optimistic the program can successfully house 300 people over five years based on the MAP Centre's previous collaborations with the city.
The physician and researcher says the work doesn鈥檛 stop once people get housed. Case management teams will follow program participants for years, helping them access clinical care, addiction treatment, employment services and more to ensure they stay housed long-term.聽
Heather McDonald, president and CEO of United Way Greater Toronto, says the housing lab is about 鈥渄oing whatever it takes to get people into housing,鈥 and teams will tailor their responses to individual needs.聽
McDonald says organizations in the group's network 鈥 including Na-Me-Res, which supports Indigenous men, and Margaret鈥檚 Housing and Community Support Services, which supports women facing homelessness 鈥 will play pivotal roles in the new program.聽
Hwang believes the housing lab can help Toronto鈥檚 overburdened health-care system in particular, since homeless people visit health-care facilities, especially emergency departments, at higher rates than the general population.聽
A Toronto project with a similar housing-first approach, Dunn House, was created specifically to provide supportive housing for homeless people who frequently visit emergency departments. That model has been a success for its residents and the University Health Network.
Hwang said the Slaight Family Housing Lab is a step in the right direction toward ending chronic homelessness, but more needs to be done to ensure every Canadian can afford a place to call home.
鈥淚f we鈥檙e going to invest more funds, we need to invest them in long-term solutions, not in short-term Band-Aids," he said. "That鈥檚 why this ($25 million) gift is so wonderful because it鈥檚 doing both of those things. It鈥檚 addressing urgent needs but it鈥檚 also creating long-term solutions."
One of the goals of the housing lab is to pioneer a model for addressing homelessness that other municipalities across Canada can replicate, Hwang said.
Homelessness is only getting worse in Ontario. A report from the Association of Municipalities of Ontario estimated that 85,000 people were without a home in 2025 鈥 a 7.8 per cent increase compared to the year before.
The Slaight Family Foundation, which was founded in 2008 by late Canadian radio pioneer Allan Slaight, says Toronto's homelessness crisis "demands urgent action," and it's proud to support front-line work to address it.
This report by 国产诱惑福利 was first published March 3, 2026.
