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Parry Sound DSSAB says ‘housing pressures’ are driving homelessness
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My Parry Sound Now
The District of Parry Sound Social Services Administration Board says growing housing pressures in Northern Ontario are driving long-term homelessness in the region.
The updated findings show that homelessness continues to rise faster than housing supply, prevention and support systems can respond – with Northern Ontario experiencing the most server impacts.
DSSAB officials say limited availability of deeply affordable, supportive, and community housing is restricting exits from homelessness and increasing the number of people remaining unhoused for longer periods.
In 2025, 13,104 households were on community housing waitlists in Northern Ontario, up from 8,467 in 2021 – a more than 50 per cent increase in just four years.
“Here in the District of Parry Sound we have an affordability crisis and are seeing firsthand how quickly homelessness is growing in communities that simply don’t have the housing supply or service capacity to keep up,” said Rick Zanussi, Chair of the District of Parry Sound Social Services Administration Board (DSSAB).