10-year Housing and Homelessness Plan

Knox housing windows

Housing and Homelessness Plan

The Housing and Homelessness Plan (Plan) for the City and County of Peterborough is now available online. The Plan establishes new targets for ending chronic homelessness and building more affordable housing. It is evidence-based and informed by input from community members, gathered through community consultation in the City and County.

The Executive Summary shows a high-level snapshot of the new plan. The Needs Assessment and the What We Heard in community consultations report provides more details on what informed the Plan.

10-year Housing and Homelessness Plan - 2021 Progress Report

Background

Housing provides a solid foundation for people as they work, seek jobs, care for each other and live healthy, productive lives. Housing is fundamental to creating successful communities and preventing homelessness. Safe and stable housing provides a good basis to raise children. It is a crucial factor in a child’s success at school and in continuing to higher education and employment.

Families and individuals must have housing that is affordable and meets their unique needs, for the well-being of the Peterborough community. A range and mix of homes for people living and working in this community and a housing market that creates jobs in the industry are key factors in a strong local economy.

With the new Guiding Principles, the new Housing and Homelessness Plan lays out a vision that will shape the City’s leadership in the housing and homelessness services.

Targets and Priority Areas

There are two key Priority Areas with targets in the priority areas:

Ending Homelessness and Staying Housed

The City of Peterborough, as part of Built for Zero, is committed to ending chronic homelessness in the City and County of Peterborough by the end of 2025. An end to chronic homelessness is also called Functional Zero. This is achieved when 3 or less people are chronically homeless, as measured by the By-Name Priority List. It also needs to be sustained for three consecutive months.

Built For Zero Peterborough
Built For Zero Peterborough is a multi-agency improvement team led by Social Services staff. Key elements of Built For Zero are a system for Coordinated Access, a By-Name Priority List for housing, and a Housing First approach.
Coordinated Access
Coordinated Access is a community wide strategy to help prevent homelessness and to match individuals and families experiencing homelessness to appropriate housing and support resources based on their level of need.
By-Name Priority List
The By-Name Priority List is an up-to-date, real-time list of everyone in the City and County of Peterborough who is experiencing homelessness. It includes details about their level of need. This helps inform what type of supports are needed to ensure housing is successful.
Housing First 
Housing First is a recovery-oriented approach that centers on quickly moving people experiencing homelessness into independent and permanent housing and then providing additional supports and services according to individual needs.

Building Housing

A Summary of the Housing Forecast Units Needs Projection (2019-2029) was created for the City and County of Peterborough. It sets targets for affordable housing production up to 2029. More details on the housing unit targets are included, specifically City and Township targets, and details about income levels. Incomes range from rents affordable for people receiving Ontario Works Shelter Allowance to people who are fully employed and earning minimum wage. There are specific targets for permanent supportive housing for people who have been chronically homeless and targets for affordable homeownership.

Housing unit targets are not solely the responsibility of the City of Peterborough to develop. The Housing and Homelessness Plan identifies roles for private sector development, non-profit partners, and units that could be developed through the regeneration of existing Community Housing properties, through such organizations as Peterborough Housing Corporation.

Steering Committee and Working Groups 

The Steering Committee and Working Groups guide the work of the Plan.

The Steering Committee is led by City staff, because we're responsible to make the Plan happen. But we can't do it alone. We need to work with others who can make a difference. The Steering Committee has City and County Councillors and staff, agency staff, and people from the community.

The two Working Groups that support the Steering Committee are focused on the 2 goals of the Plan. The Working Group names are:

  • Ending Homelessness and Staying Housed
  • Housing Action Task Force

Both Working Groups are meeting and working on Action Plans for 2020/2021. 

Reports that show achievements

Reports that guide and inform the work we do