Established as Supporting Communities Partnership Initiative under the Liberals, the new program will be called Homelessness Partnering Strategy and will receive $270 million over the next two years — about the same level of funding which SCPI has provided to shelters, food banks and other social service organizations over the last two years.

Human Resources and Social Development Minister Diane Finley also announced $256 million to continue a program which finances repairs for low-income homeowners and renovations to make houses and apartments accessible to the disabled. Some of this money is also used to bring rooming houses and bottom-of-the-market apartments up to standard.

Agencies around Toronto that work with the homeless were worried the Conservative government might cut homelessness funding, and Toronto Mayor David Miller had announced that layoff notices would go out in the new year without a new funding announcement. Church and non-profit agencies which run programs will have to reapply to the city to access continued funding after March 31. Toronto has traditionally received about $18 million per year from SCPI.