{"id":39061,"date":"2026-10-08T15:24:16","date_gmt":"2026-10-08T19:24:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=39061"},"modified":"2026-10-08T15:24:18","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T19:24:18","slug":"region-being-shorted-450-million-in-provincial-funding-study-finds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/region-being-shorted-450-million-in-provincial-funding-study-finds\/","title":{"rendered":"Region being shorted $450 million in Provincial funding, study finds"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A significant shortfall in Provincial funding for community services in York Region has been identified by a new study released by Ontario for All.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Presented at Regional Council last month, and subject to discussion at last week\u2019s All-Candidates Meeting and Mayoral Debate hosted by six local ratepayers\u2019 groups at the Aurora Legion, the study included input from such local non-profits and community organizations as 360\u00b0kids, Blue Door, and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYork Region has grown rapidly, bringing increased demand for community and social services,\u201d said Ontario for All. \u201cAt the same time, poverty and affordability pressures have risen exponentially, while funding has failed to keep pace. The impacts of this have been felt by local non-profits who have known that their communities have not been receiving the same level of support as comparable communities such as Toronto and Ottawa. To understand whether these experiences were reflected in data, non-profit leaders commissioned research firm Blueprint ADE to undertake an independent analysis of provincial investment in York Region’s community services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA detailed review of government funding documents by Blueprint ADE, comparing York Region with other large Ontario municipalities, showed Provincial investment in community services is far lower in York Region than in comparable municipalities. The study uncovered a staggering, annual funding shortfall of $369 for every person in York Region resulting in a $450 million gap when it comes to investments in municipal, non-profit and community health services by the province. This shortfall affects municipal services like housing, childcare, schools and seniors care, as well as non-profit community services like mental health and addiction support and youth programs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The study, they note, did not include analysis of underfunding of local hospitals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The issue was touched upon at the October 1 all candidates debate, at which Mayoral candidates Shawn Deane, John Gallo, and Yafang Shi agreed that, if elected as Aurora\u2019s voice at the Regional Council table, they would support advocating for adequate funding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYork Region is a fast-growing, major urban centre, with over a million residents, that contributes to Ontario\u2019s economy and its tax base, but doesn’t receive adequate provincial funding as compared to other urban centres,\u201d said Yvonne Kelly, Co-Chair of the Social Planning Council of York Region and Affordable Housing Coalition of York Region, who also helmed a table for the organization at Thursday\u2019s debate, in a statement. \u201cThat means our community doesn\u2019t get the housing programs, mental health services or seniors care that other major urban centers count on.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Added Clovis Grant, CEO of 360\u00b0kids: \u201cThe report emphasizes the need for a more proactive and preventative approach in the funding of human services. Providing supports earlier, especially to young people, to prevent crises, strengthens community and means fewer downstream interventions that are more costly for all taxpayers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Debbie Schatia, CEO of Blue Door, who also serves as a member of the York Region Underfunding Research Committee, added homelessness services in York Region are seeing increased demand and \u201cequitable funding\u201d is essential in ensuring support for people most in need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“This [report] is stunning information that helps us understand some of the underlying issues of why individuals and families struggle in York Region, and why institutions tasked to support them also struggle in doing so,\u201d noted Marie Morton, Executive Director of CAYR Community Connections and another member of the York Region Underfunding Research Committee. \u201cWe are not on a level playing field. But now that we know, we have the opportunity to collectively correct our course for the benefit of everyone in the Region.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Brock Weir
Editor
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A significant shortfall in Provincial funding for community services in York Region has been identified by a new study released by Ontario for All. Presented at Regional Council last month, and subject to discussion at last week\u2019s All-Candidates Meeting and Mayoral Debate hosted by six local ratepayers\u2019 groups at the Aurora Legion, the study included […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39061","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general_news","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-aa1","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-10-17 21:46:58","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39061","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39061"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39061\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39062,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39061\/revisions\/39062"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39061"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39061"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39061"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}