Mayor's Message: Support for Regional Housing and Social Services System

Shared on behalf of Mayor Tracey Bailey.

Housing is one of the defining issues of our time. Our communities expect us to focus on results — more homes, better supports and real accountability.

Recently, there has been discussion at the County level about creating a separate County-run social services and housing system. That would mean stepping away from the current model, where the City of Windsor serves as the provincially designated Service Manager for the region — a structure created by the Province to promote efficiency and shared delivery across municipal boundaries.

In response, I brought forward a motion to Lakeshore Council. The motion recognizes that:

• The Province established the current regional model for efficiency and economies of scale.
• There is no indication that new provincial funding would come with a separate County system.
• Creating a parallel administration would duplicate staffing, governance, systems and overhead.
• Without new funding, those costs would fall directly to local taxpayers.
• There is real risk of higher property taxes, service disruption during transition and no guarantee of better outcomes.

To be clear: creating a separate housing structure would cost tens of millions of dollars just to establish and likely millions more every year to operate. That money would be required before ANY housing gets built or services are improved.

Lakeshore council unanimously agreed that we do not support the County getting into the business of running a separate social housing system. Instead, we support strengthening the existing regional model and working collaboratively with the current Service Manager to improve performance, accountability and outcomes.

Stay tuned... I will be bringing a Notice of Motion to the County to confirm the County position on this matter.

This is not about defending the status quo. It is about making sure our communities invest in housing and support solutions — not in building another layer of administration.

Housing is too important to risk getting wrong.