Executive Summary
This study was commissioned by the Metamorphosis Network, which represents over 100 nonprofit organizations in the Region of Peel. It investigates the possibility that social services delivered in Peel Region are underfunded by the Province of Ontario. The research examines provincial funding to all municipalities in the area (Peel Region, Mississauga, Brampton and Caledon), the major school boards and nonprofit community service providers. It compares funding received in the municipalities against that received in other jurisdictions. It is intended to provide a fully documented, transparently researched, and cautiously interpreted account of the current state of social services funding in Peel Region.
Key Findings
This study finds that residents of Peel Region receive less provincial funding for municipal and social services than the average resident of Ontario municipalities. Zooming in on the province’s largest municipalities, we find that the gap persists. The available data about the consequences of that gap suggest that the nonprofit sector is growing less financially sustainable, and that municipal taxpayers are increasingly burdened with the costs of social services.
The Funding Gap
The data indicate that provincial government provides residents of the Region an average of $578 less, annually, per person, for municipal and social services overall, than the average resident of Ontario municipalities receives, and that the cumulative gap in funding is over $868 million per year. The gap—summarized in Table 1 —is apparent in all major funding channels.
Table 1: Provincial Funding Gaps for Services in Peel Region
(2015–2022 Average, 2022 Constant Dollars)
| Channel | Per Capita Gap | Annualized Total Gap |
|---|---|---|
| Municipal Services (Core) | -$59 | -$86,821,103 |
| Municipal Services (Social) | -$145 | -$214,898,278 |
| Nonprofit Services (General Assistance and Community Support) | -$258 | -$390,474,392 |
| Local Health Integration Networks (LHINs) | -$65 | -$97,210,748 |
| Public School Boards | -$37 | -$56,677,483 |
| Roman Catholic Separate School Boards | -$15 | -$22,386,374 |
| Total | -$578¹ | -$868,468,378 |
¹ The total gap may not equal the sum of the individual gaps due to rounding.
Key Comparators
When compared with its closest peers—the seven other municipalities in Ontario with populations over 500,000: Toronto, Ottawa, Hamilton, York, Durham, Waterloo and Halton—funding in Peel is persistently low. In the most recent year of data available Peel finishes dead last among comparators for municipal social service funding, nonprofit community service funding, and LHIN community health funding. In 2023-24, it ranked below average for school board funding.
Consequences
Our analysis indicates that municipal contributions to municipal social services from property taxes and user fees in Peel Region Municipalities have increased $138 from $605 per-capita in 2015 to $743 per-capita in 2022, after adjusting for inflation. We also find that nonprofits in the Region grew less financially sustainable between 2021 and 2023, and that over the same time period, fewer of them were able to rely on provincial support as their primary source of funding.
