Growth, guns, gridlock: London to face some key challenges in 2025

London is a city likely to be challenged by its own success in 2025. 

The city continues to experience rapid growth, with a recent city staff report pointing to provincial estimates that predict 9,000 new people a year will come to London to live over the next 25 years. 

That growth is good for land values and city coffers, but it also brings challenges on multiple fronts, from housing affordability, to road congestion, to crime and homelessness. 

Here's an outline of some of the challenges London is sure to face in the year ahead.

Managing the city's response to the the housing and homelessness crisis will continue to be a top-of-mind challenge in 2025. London has made significant efforts to respond, including agreeing to fund Ark Aid Mission shelter services through the year, although they'll have to shift some overnight resting beds off Dundas Street in Old East Village. 

London expects to open 50 new highly supportive beds this year in a former seniors home on Elmwood Avenue. Also, Canadian Mental Health Association has an application to open one of 19 provincially funded heart hubs in London.

Two housing hubs created under the city's response to homelessness are now operating, one by Indigenous-operated Atlohsa Family Healing Services and another focused on helping youth run by Youth Opportunities Unlimited. 

Last month, the federal government announced $5 million over two years for homeless relief. 

While all this is positive news, in a recent Instagram video post Mayor Josh Morgan said the city and community donors alone can't meet the need. He said senior governments must continue to be part of the solution, something to watch for as both a provincial and federal election will happen this year.

"We know we need to scale this up," said Morgan of London's response to homelessness. "So we continue to advocate to the provincial government to make sure that the resources are available to municipalities to create spaces for people who are very high needs." 

In what some might think would only happen in a larger city, a shooting outside the doors of Victoria's Hospital ER room on Dec. 18 raised the issue of whether London is seeing an increase in gun violence.

Police Chief Thai Truong said the hospital shooting, while concerning, isn't an indicator gun violence in London is increasing. In fact, he said the number of shootings actually decreased in 2024.

"Right now we're sitting at 14 shootings for the year," he told CBC News. "Last year, in total, we had 27. That's a significant reduction in gun violence."

So what needs to happen to keep the number of shootings down as London grows? Truong said a big factor is "targeted enforcement efforts" directed at people involved in the drug trade.