October 23, 2026
What Can London Learn from St. Thomas About Ending Homelessness?
For the past few years, something remarkable has been happening in St. Thomas. Following the closure of the region’s Ford plant in nearby Talbotville, the city has attracted major new industries, with PowerCo and Vianode representing approximately $10 billion in construction investment. But there is another story unfolding in St. Thomas that deserves our attention — one that has as much to do with leadership and community as it does with economic development.
Earlier this year, St. Thomas announced that it is working toward achieving functional zero homelessness by 2027. Through investments in shelter, housing, supportive housing and social supports, the city has helped hundreds of people move out of homelessness. At a time when so many communities are struggling with a growing homelessness crisis, St. Thomas offers an important example of what can happen when a community commits to a common goal.
For this week’s Steve’s Reflections, I sat down with St. Thomas Mayor Joe Preston to learn more about the city’s approach — and, just as importantly, the leadership that has helped move it forward.
I’ve known Joe since he first became an MP in 2004, representing St. Thomas, Elgin and a small corner of London that gave us the opportunity to work together. Over the years, I’ve appreciated his ability to work across political lines, bring people together around shared concerns and focus on finding solutions.
My conversation with Joe took place just days before his retirement from municipal politics, providing an opportunity to reflect on more than 20 years in public office and the approach he has taken to solving complex economic and social challenges.
What struck me in our conversation was that St. Thomas’ progress on homelessness is about more than investing in housing and services. It is also about making homelessness a shared community priority, embedding that commitment in the city’s strategic plan, bringing partners together around a common vision, and celebrating progress along the way.
These may sound like straightforward leadership practices. But they require a willingness to establish clear priorities, build consensus, maintain focus and hold a community together around a challenge that can otherwise seem overwhelming.
As Londoners prepare to vote in the upcoming election, homelessness has emerged as one of the defining issues of this campaign. We have no shortage of debate about the problem, its impact on neighbourhoods and businesses, and the resources required to address it. What we need is a clear and shared vision of what success looks like — and leadership that can bring our community together to achieve it.
St. Thomas offers London an opportunity to reflect on some important questions. What would it mean to make ending homelessness an explicit community goal? How can a mayor help align municipal priorities, community organizations and other partners around that goal? And how do we move beyond managing homelessness toward measuring our progress in actually ending it?
In this week’s video, Joe shares insights into how St. Thomas has approached these questions. As Londoners consider the leadership they want for the next four years, I think there are lessons here worth paying attention to - because while homelessness is a complex issue, that doesn’t mean we should accept it as an ongoing one.
The Urban League’s 14 All Candidate Meetings Now Available for Viewing
You can learn more about these meetings here.
Rogers Television is broadcasting each of them regularly as election day approaches. The Loon was thrilled to partner with the Urban League this year. We wrote many of the questions asked at these meetings we and helped promote the events, too. For a grass roots, not-for-profit, volunteer led organization, the Urban League of London has really gone above and beyond with this initiative.
All 14 Ward All-Candidate Meetings are available on the Rogers tv YouTube channel and are running regularly on Rogers tv.
Rogers tv Mayoral Debate:
Moderator Christine Taleski masterfully moderated this 90 minute debate and The Loon developed and asked the questions. you can catch the entire 90 minute debate regularly on Rogers tv or watch it on Rogers tv’s YouTube Channel here.
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