A Modern Day Psychiatric Hospital with Compassion

What if we had a more comprehensive and compassionate plan for those who find themselves unhoused?

London used to have a place where people with serious mental health challenges could go and stay until they were stable. The province closed those institutions and never replaced them with anything that worked. The result, over time, became visible on our streets.

I want London to build a Mental Health Innovation Village on light commercial land. Built on the Scandinavian principle of normalization: a community designed around purpose, responsibility and skills, so residents rejoin our community and stay.

Stream 1: Get Back on Your Feet.

The Cheese Factory Road shelter site is a precursor to a bigger idea. Micro-shelters for people who need months, not years. A community with a social enterprise centre on site that provides training in living-wage skills, a teaching kitchen, financial literacy, community gardens and small businesses run by the residents. A community to rediscover purpose. Fredericton's 12 Neighbours built 96 homes this way with $13 million in government funding and private investment.

Stream 2: Stabilization.

A separate micro-shelter community for people with more severe mental health and addiction needs, with clinical support on site supported by the HART Hub next door.

Stream 3: Stay As Long As You Need To.

Permanent intensive housing next door to a provincially funded HART Hub for treatment and medical care. The HART Hub provides the recovery plan for those with acute needs requiring treatment before they return to our community. For those who may not succeed after a 12-month treatment plan, the Hub provides ongoing support to the permanent intensive housing site located next to it. This approach ensures no duplication of staffing and keeps residents close to supports.

Who pays for what.

The City provides the land and coordination. The federal government funds the micro-shelter units, the permanent housing building and the enterprise centre through programs like the Affordable Housing Fund and Build Canada Homes. The province funds the clinical staff through HART Hub dollars and daily operations through the Homelessness Prevention Program. Every resident on Ontario Works or ODSP brings shelter allowance revenue to the site that the province would otherwise keep.

What needs to change.

I will bring a motion through council asking the province to let village residents save their shelter allowance in escrow toward first and last month's rent, so they leave with something to land on. Toronto Council passed the same ask in May 2026. London should be next.

This plan moves us away from concentrating highly supportive housing in residential neighbourhoods. It gives every person the right level of care and gives the surrounding community the accountability it deserves.