Advocates say an end to homelessness is within reach

Mass homelessness remains at crisis levels in Canada, but for the first time in 25 years, advocates say they have some hope the country is on course to end the plightofpeople living on the street.

A new report out today notesa dramatic demographicshiftin who is using shelters, moving from a group ofmostly older white mento a more diverse population that includeswomen, seniors, youth, veterans andfamilies. While Indigenous people make up only 4.3 per cent of the Canadian population, they represent27 to 33 per cent of shelter users and are 10 times more likely to use homeless emergency shelters than the average Canadian.

• Seniors more vulnerable to homelessness
• Hiring the homeless
• Medicine Hat eliminates homelessness

The report says the federal government'snational housing strategy signals an opportunity to ensure all Canadians have affordable housing. It calls for an investment of $4.5billion in the next budget.That's anincrease of $1.8 billionanamount equalto about $1 eachweek perCanadian that could end homelessness, the report says.

The report recommends anoverall commitment of $43.8 billion over the next decade.

Difficult choices, priorities

"We agree with the government that all Canadians deserve safe, decent and affordable housing," said Tim Richer, president and chief executive officer of the Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness, one of the organizations that released the report. While it's the right objective to try to solveall of Canada's housing problems at once, from homelessness to the rising cost of home ownership, said Richer, "the sheer scale of the challenge when set against political and fiscal realities will force,should force,the government to make some difficult choices and set priorities."

Richter called homelessnessa public health emergency, and said thenational housing strategy should prioritizethose for whom a lack of housing is a matter of life and death.

StephenGaetz, director of the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness, the other organization behind the report,pointed to models like oneadopted in Medicine Hat, Alta., and Hamilton, Ont. that haveproven successful in reducing or even eradicating homelessness.

Medicine Hat adopted a Housing Firststrategy that changed the focus fromtemporary shelters to gettinghomeless people into places of their own without conditionssuch as staying sober. The policy was first tried in the United States, and later, in Britain.

"We know what to do, now is the time to do something about it," he said, noting that failing to tacklehomelessness meanshigh costs to health care and criminal justice systems down the road.

'National tragedy'

Gaetzcalled for greater action and leadership by the federal government and suggested there be a focus on priority populations.

"It's a national tragedy that we allow so many Indigenous people to fall into homelessness," he said. "We need to focus on veterans. People who have served the country should not be treated this way when they return home. And we need to focus on youth, because if we don't address youth homelessness now, we're actually investing in the homelessness of the future because they will become chronic homeless adults."

Homelessness advocate calls on government to end "national tragedy"

8 years ago

Duration 0:24

Stephen Gaetz, the Director of the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness, says that the government needs to address homelessness for indigenous people, veterans, and youth.

Some of the report's key recommendations:

• Adopt clear and measurable outcomes, milestones and criteria with strategy to end homelessness.
• Develop a new federal/provincial/territorial agreement to define local leadership on housing investment.
• Develop targeted strategies for youth, veterans and Indigenous people.
• Implement an affordable housing tax credit.