Community input is shaping Kingston’s 10-year Municipal Housing and Homelessness Plan, with a new report outlining feedback from community members and stakeholders.
The City of Kingston published a Community and Stakeholder Engagement Report summary on Aug. 14 as part of the 10-year plan for the City of Kingston and County of Frontenac. The full plan is currently in the works, and once it is complete, it will be presented to council for approval.
The engagement report covers feedback gathered between March and May 2026 from over 700 participants including residents, service providers, and community partners.
In an interview with The Journal, Kelly Black, manager of affordable housing at the City of Kingston, and Lily Clark, principal at Beam Group, said the report was developed collaboratively. Beam Group is a consulting firm that works with governments and public-sector organizations.
“Kelly and I coordinate really closely to make sure that it’s going through the right kind of review process,” Clark said.
The report found 85 per cent of survey respondents identified affordable rental housing as the most needed action over the next 10 years. Long wait times have made it difficult to access existing rent-geared-to-income housing, where rent is calculated based on a household’s income.
Eighty per cent of surveyed individuals identified supportive housing, meaning housing with integrated services to support individuals with complex needs, as a top priority. Community partners identified client complexity as the leading barrier to accessing supportive housing.
“From the engagement that we held with experts, […] we heard so much about that need for integrated healthcare supports and for that to be funded at kind of higher levels of government,” Clark said. “It’s really challenging for folks who rely on those healthcare supports to stay sustainably housed without them.”
Early intervention was a priority for residents, community partners, and people with experience of homelessness, according to the report. Examples included eviction prevention, healthcare access, employment support, rehabilitation for people exiting the corrections system, and early investment in children, youth, and families.
The report identifies seniors, families, youth, Indigenous peoples, and newcomers as populations facing specific housing barriers. Seniors account for 30 per cent of non-market housing demand while families face limited shelter options and young people can experience gaps when transitioning into the adult shelter system.
For Indigenous residents, focus groups indicated the need for culturally grounded, community-led housing and wraparound supports. Newcomers face barriers including discrimination, language barriers, isolation, family size, and legal status.
In an interview with The Journal, Zarah Rahman, MD ’29, and Tim Song, MD ’28, said they were referred to the survey through their work with Queen’s Medicine Municipal Day of Action (QMed – MDoA).
Rahman participated in an interview survey and discussed policy recommendations QMed – MDoA have been advocating for.
The group recommends better data collection for Kingston’s By-Name List — a database that tracks individuals experiencing homelessness to coordinate support programs to include more demographic information alongside additional inflow and outflow metrics.
They have also been advocating for Indigenous-specific housing supports and funding for services that already exist, such as Tipi Moza, which offers affordable and supportive housing to Indigenous peoples.
“It’s important for us to advocate for our patients and what we see in the hospital,” Rahman said.
We want to “understand and uplift those voices,” Song said.
The Housing and Homelessness Advisory Committee will be meeting on Sept. 17 to discuss the engagement results.
Tags
Housing plan, Housing report, Rising prices
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