London mayor promises tiny village for homeless vets, public drug crackdown in state of city address

A new tiny home village will be built on the grounds of Parkwood Institute to help homeless veterans integrate back into the community, London Mayor Josh Morgan announced in the annual state of the city address on Thursday morning. 

The Homes for Heroes village will include 20 small homes, with counselling, life skills and administrative supports, Morgan said. It will be paid for by money from senior levels of government, he said. 

"Compassion must remain the cornerstone of these efforts, and our commitment to that is unwavering."  

Morgan also called for more money from senior levels of government, saying, "We simply cannot build a 21st century city using a 19th-century funding formula.... The math just doesn't add up. The property tax system is absolutely broken." 

The state of the city is an annual fundraising breakfast for the London Chamber of Commerce. Tickets cost $75 for members and $95 for non-members. 

Last year, Morgan used the event to come out in full support of a massive increase to the police budget and the corresponding property tax increase. 

He also announced an incentive program to turn office buildings into residential units. This year, he announced a new incentive program to get businesses into empty office buildings downtown. London has the highest commercial vacancy rate in the country, with about one-third of buildings sitting empty. 

This year, Morgan also announced: 

• The police will crack down on drug use in public. "Blatant public drug use and violent behaviours cannot and must not be tolerated," he said. "This is not about criminalizing homelessness, nor arresting our way out of a crisis. There are ways to deal with public drug use that don't involve throwing people in jail or saddling them with criminal records. This is about ensuring public spaces remain safe and accessible." 
• The Community Outreach and Support Team, which includes police officers, health workers and mental health professionals, will continue in 2025. 
• There will be a higher police presence in downtown and Old East Village to make people feel safer, Morgan said. 
• The next property tax increase will be less than five per cent, Morgan said. City departments will be required to look at where they can make cuts. "We must decide together how much, where and whether we are willing to make potentially painful sacrifices to ensure affordability while still delivering key services our city depends on." 
• InnoFoods, a snack food manufacturer, will open its first-ever expansion outside of British Columbia, at Innovation Park, near Hwy 401. It will employ 90 people at first and will likely eventually double its workforce. 
• Italian pasta manufacturer Andriani will open its facility later this year and Coppa Inc., a family-run gelato business, has grown from 12 to 30 employees and will triple their workforce as it expands. 

Morgan also touched on looming tariffs from the Trump administration.

"This is no time to cross our fingers or hide our heads in the sand," he said, adding he will work with U.S. mayors as well as provincial and federal governments to protect London jobs. 

"London is at an inflection point. We have choices to make, not just as a city council but as a community. This isn't about picking sides in an ideological sense. It's not about left versus right, it's about moving forward," Morgan said. 

"Tackling homelessness is not just housing the unhoused — it's about fostering hope and humanity. Public safety is not just patrolling our streets, it's about building trust and community. Affordability is not merely a matter of metrics, it's about ensuring that every Londoner can live with dignity."