Kingston’s housing crisis, in figures you can check
Every number on this page links to its source. Where we’ve done the math ourselves, we show it.
How many people are affected?
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572
People experiencing homelessness in Kingston as of early January 2026. The count peaked at 633 in August 2024.
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390
People considered chronically homeless as of February 2026, up 67% from 233 in March 2023.
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483
People found by the November 2024 Point-in-Time Count, up 133% from 207 in 2021.
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100+
People living in encampments across the city, by the City’s own estimate.
City of Kingston
How fast this is growing
People found by Kingston’s Point-in-Time Counts.
| When | Value |
|---|---|
| 2021 | 207 |
| 2024 | 483 |
up 133% in three years
What they say the problem is
Each dot is one of the 288 people who agreed to be surveyed in the 2024 Point-in-Time Count.
96%
said not having enough income was a barrier to housing.
84%
said rents were too high to afford.
75%
self-identified as experiencing a mental health issue, up from 65% in 2021.
32%
lost their housing because they didn’t have enough income.
26%
identify as Indigenous, in a city where Indigenous residents are a small fraction of the population.
The math that explains it
| Measure | Amount |
|---|---|
| Average one-bedroom rent | $1,503 |
| ODSP maximum shelter allowance | $611 |
| Ontario Works maximum shelter allowance | $390 |
| The gap on ODSP | $892 short, every month. |
Who can afford this apartment?
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Ontario Works, single person, monthly take-home
$733
A single person on Ontario Works gets $343 for basics and at most $390 for shelter: $733 a month, all in. The average one-bedroom costs 2.05 times the whole cheque.
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ODSP, single person, monthly take-home
$1,436
ODSP pays $825 for basics plus at most $611 for shelter. Put the entire cheque against the rent and a single person is still $67 short, before groceries or a bus pass.
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Full-time minimum wage, monthly take-home
$2,500
At Ontario’s $17.60 minimum wage, a full-time worker grosses about $3,051 a month — roughly $2,500 of it arrives after tax and payroll deductions. The average one-bedroom takes about 60% of that take-home pay. The standard for affordability is 30%.
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What the rent asks for, at the 30% standard
$5,010
For rent to stay under the 30% affordability standard, a household needs about $5,010 a month arriving in its bank account. In Ontario, taking home that much means a salary of roughly $85,000 a year.
On social assistance, the rent alone is out of reach. On minimum wage, it takes well over half of every paycheque.
| Measure | Amount |
|---|---|
| Average one-bedroom rent | $1,503 |
| Ontario Works, single person, monthly take-home | $733 |
| ODSP, single person, monthly take-home | $1,436 |
| Full-time minimum wage, monthly take-home | $2,500 |
| What the rent asks for, at the 30% standard | $5,010 |
The rest of the math
Average rent in Kingston as of October 2025, from CMHC: $1,198 for a bachelor, $1,503 for a one-bedroom, $1,763 for a two-bedroom. The vacancy rate is 2.4%.
40.7%
of an average one-bedroom is all the ODSP shelter allowance covers.
25.9%
is what the Ontario Works shelter allowance covers. The gap is $1,113 a month.
CMHC Rental Market Survey and Ontario rate tables, October 2025
The waitlist
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1,654
Households on Kingston’s social housing waitlist at the end of 2024.
City of Kingston, Housing and Homelessness Annual Report 2024
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127
Households housed that year, against 920 applications received.
City of Kingston, Housing and Homelessness Annual Report 2024
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6.5 years
Average wait for a one-bedroom rent-geared-to-income unit. Some households have been waiting more than 14 years.
What the City says it needs
| Measure | Amount |
|---|---|
| Rental units needed below $1,000 a month | 4,900 |
| Of those, needed below $750 a month | 2,300 |
| Housing solutions for people currently homeless | 400 |
A household earning under $15,800 a year can afford about $395 a month, less than the average bachelor rent in this city.
City of Kingston, Housing Needs Assessment
Every source on this page
Publisher, period and a link for each figure, plus the math, where we did it ourselves.