Ontario Construction News staff writer
Brantford City Council has approved a new 10-year housing stability plan that sets out a roadmap to reduce homelessness, expand affordable housing and improve coordination of housing services across Brantford and the County of Brant.
The 2025-2035 Brantford-Brant Housing Stability Plan: From Crisis Response to System Change outlines measurable goals to reduce homelessness, advance a human rights-based approach to encampments, increase affordable housing and strengthen partnerships between governments and community organizations.
The strategy was developed through extensive public consultation involving more than 1,800 survey respondents, 300 focus group participants and 60 in-depth interviews with service providers, municipal leaders, youth, seniors and people with lived experience of housing instability. Research conducted by Wilfrid Laurier University also informed the plan.
Five strategic priorities over the next decade: reducing homelessness while working toward Functional Zero, advancing a human rights-based response to unsheltered homelessness and encampments, increasing and preserving affordable housing, providing targeted supports for priority populations, and strengthening system integration and advocacy.
The plan comes as communities across Ontario continue to face rising housing costs, growing rates of chronic homelessness and increased pressure on emergency shelters.
City officials say Brantford has made progress in recent years. Since 2019, more than 300 municipally developed housing units have been completed or are under construction, while more than 250 non-profit housing units have been built or are in development.
During the same period, 928 families have been housed, helping reduce Brantford’s centralized housing wait list to its lowest level in a decade.
The city has also introduced a coordinated access system and a real-time By-Name List to improve how people experiencing homelessness are identified and connected with housing. Officials say those systems have earned recognition at both the provincial and national levels.
Local initiatives, including the Encampment Network outreach model, the Housing Stability Worker Program and the Live Well Brantford-Brant Supportive Housing Program, have also contributed to preventing evictions, improving housing retention and reducing returns to homelessness, according to the city.
Major projects currently underway include a holistic housing hub at 389 West St. in Brantford and additional supportive housing developments being led by community partners.
“This comprehensive plan reflects what we’ve heard from our community and what we know works,” Mayor Kevin Davis said in a statement. “The progress we’ve made since 2019 shows that coordinated, evidence-based action gets results. The 2025-2035 Housing Stability Plan gives us a clear roadmap to build on that momentum and ensure that our most vulnerable residents have access to safe, stable housing.”
Approval is still needed from the Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing.
