Good afternoon, Chair and members of the committee.
My name is Ryan Donais, and I am the founder of Tiny Tiny Homes, a charity organization focused on transitional housing for people experiencing homelessness.
I also come with lived experience. I first experienced homelessness at 16, while still in foster care. Over the next 10 years, I spent that time on the streets, in and out of jail and stuck in a cycle of destroying my future. What I needed most was not just a shelter bed; I needed stability. I needed privacy. I needed a safe place where I could focus on rebuilding my life.
When you're stuck in survival mode every day, it's hard to work on addiction, trauma, employment, education or mental health. Housing creates a foundation for recovery and stability. That experience has led me to create Tiny Tiny Homes. I believe that healing begins with housing.
One of our residents, Brent Blake, was living with stage 4 cancer. He was the nicest guy in the world. He was humble, proud and the type of person who would not accept a dollar from anyone. He also wouldn't go to a shelter. We were able to get Brent in a tiny home and then into permanent housing for the last few months of his life. We offered him something the system couldn't, which was a path back to his own dignity.
One thing I would like the committee to understand is that homelessness is not one-size-fits-all. Different populations require different solutions. While tiny homes are where we started, we believe it's only a small part of the bigger picture of housing. The real goal is creating pathways out of homelessness through a multi-level approach of stable, affordable and supportive housing.
In Toronto, we currently have tiny homes operating, and we're working on launching another larger location this summer. One of our major projects is a 10-unit youth housing development in Chatham, Ontario, focused on youth exiting foster care and youth experiencing homelessness. These young people are at an extremely high risk of chronic homelessness after aging out of care. Our goal is to provide small private units with washrooms and supportive services so these youth have a stable foundation while they transition into adulthood.
All of the projects are funded by grants and donations; no funding has come from government.
From our experience on the ground, I believe there are several areas where the federal government could improve outcomes.
First, funding processes need to move faster. Small organizations often struggle with long approval timelines and complex application systems, even when projects are ready to move forward.
Second, there needs to be more support for smaller, community-led housing models. Large projects are important, but smaller projects can often be built faster, integrated into communities more easily and operated with lower costs.
Third, we need to focus on transitional and supportive housing, especially for vulnerable populations, like youth exiting foster care, people recovering from addiction, seniors and people leaving encampments.
I also believe that we need to recognize that harm reduction starts with housing first. It is next to impossible for someone to recover from addiction, improve their mental health or stabilize their life while living outside in survival mode every single day. Housing gives people the stability needed to begin working on the deeper issues they are facing.
In Toronto, the average cost of a shelter bed is about $136 per night, and in specialized shelter settings, the costs are significantly higher. On a most basic level, it is often cheaper to house people than to keep them homeless in emergency systems.
Beyond the financial cost, stable housing also reduces pressure on hospitals, policing, emergency services and the justice system. Housing creates stability before a crisis happens. At a time when every public dollar matters, we should be prioritizing housing models that deliver the greatest number of housing outcomes per dollar invested. By embracing lower-cost housing solutions, we can help more Canadians without increasing overall spending.
Finally, I believe we need to remember that housing is not just infrastructure. Housing is health care, housing is prevention, housing is public safety and housing is dignity. Everybody deserves a safe place to stabilize their life and build a future.
Thank you very much for the opportunity to speak today.
I look forward to your questions.