Posted On: September 1, 2026, Posted By: Alessandra Scarano, NewmarketToday, Original Article.
Few people question if schools and hospitals are worth funding.
We understand that education and health care benefit everyone, even if you don’t access these services every day.
- Although affordable housing isn’t always included in the traditional definition of infrastructure, its economic and social benefits are comparable to those of other essential infrastructure. Yet rather than investing in this long-term solution, we continue to spend millions responding to homelessness after individuals have reached a crisis, relying on emergency health care, policing and shelters.
- This reactive approach is not only more costly, but also far less effective than investing in permanent, affordable housing.
The Hidden Cost of Homelessness on Health Care
Health and housing go hand in hand.
- A housed individual can often manage minor health issues at home with food, rest, clean facilities, and a safe place to recover. For someone experiencing homelessness, those same necessities may not be available, allowing minor health concerns to quickly become more serious.
- Consider something as simple as a cut on your leg. Someone with stable housing can clean the wound, follow up with a doctor if needed, and recover at home. Someone experiencing homelessness may not have access to clean facilities or regular medical care, increasing the risk of infection and complications.
- For individuals experiencing homelessness, the daily realities of finding food, staying safe, and securing a place to sleep can also take priority over managing their health. As a result, many may not seek medical care until their condition becomes critical and requires immediate attention.
- Studies show it can cost up to six times more to treat a person experiencing homelessness, while hospital stays can average 15 days, nearly double the national average of eight days.
Without a safe place to recover, patients may also remain in hospital longer because discharging them back into homelessness can lead to complications and repeat visits to the emergency room.
As a result, hospital beds are used to fill a gap that supportive housing could address more effectively and at a lower cost.
The Strain on Homeless Shelters
- The cost of homelessness doesn’t stop at the health-care system. Its effects are felt across our communities and public services.
- Imagine being a senior living on CPP who worked your entire life, only to find that the rising cost of living has made retirement unaffordable. Or imagine being a parent earning minimum wage and, after paying rent, having only $1,014 left to cover food, transportation, utilities and every other basic need for your family.
Living paycheque to paycheque leaves little room for the unexpected, leaving many households just one setback away from homelessness.
As a result, shelters are increasingly serving families, seniors, and people on a fixed income, who were all groups that were less likely to have relied on these services decades ago.
- Just as unhoused patients remain in hospital beds because they have nowhere safe to recover, people can remain in shelters because there is nowhere affordable for them to move. Meanwhile, more people continue to arrive, keeping shelters at or near capacity.
Operating emergency beds is also very expensive. Unlike affordable housing, where people pay for their own food and maintain their own homes, shelters absorb the cost of many services such as 24/7 staffing, meals, maintenance of the building, and providing basic hygiene products and linens for hundreds of people each day.
It costs approximately $61 per day to operate one shelter bed. By comparison, affordable housing can cost roughly $25 to $31 per person per day.
Investing in affordable housing is not simply about providing people with a place to live. It can also reduce pressure on the expensive emergency systems communities rely on when housing is unavailable.
The Main Idea
Every year, the challenge grows as the cost of living continues to rise. More people are pushed into homelessness, placing increasing pressure on health care, shelters, and the broader York Region community.
The real cost is not investing in housing. The real cost is continuing to pay, year after year, for systems that respond to homelessness only after people have reached a crisis.
By investing in long-term housing solutions today, York Region can reduce both the financial and human costs of homelessness while building a stronger, healthier community for everyone.
Alessandra Scarano is a Grade 12 student volunteering at Blue Door.