Homelessness in Canada

thumb|Graffiti of homeless in [[Quebec City]]

Homelessness in Canada was not a social problem until the 1980s. Public policies shifted away from rehousing in the 1980s in wealthy Western countries like Canada, which led to a de-housing of households that had previously been housed. By 1987, when the United Nations established the International Year of Shelter for the Homeless (IYSH), homelessness had become a serious social problem in Canada. The report of the major 1987 IYSH conference held in Ottawa said that housing was not a high priority for government, and this was a significant contributor to the homelessness problem. While there was a demand for adequate and affordable housing for low income Canadian families, government funding was not available. In the 1980s a "wider segment of the population" began to experience homelessness for the first time – evident through their use of emergency shelters and soup kitchens. Shelters began to experience overcrowding, and demand for services for the homeless was constantly increasing. A series of cuts were made to national housing programs by the federal government through the mid-1980s and in the 1990s. While Canada's economy was robust, the cuts continued and in some cases accelerated in the 1990s, including cuts to the 1973 national affordable housing program. The government solution for homelessness was to create more homeless shelters and to increase emergency services. In the larger metropolitan areas like Toronto the use of homeless shelters increased by 75% from 1988 to 1998. Urban centres such as Montreal, Laval, Vancouver, Edmonton, and Calgary all experienced increasing homelessness.

In Action Plan 2011, the Federal Government of Canada proposed $120 million annually from April 2014 until April 2019—with $70 million in new funding—to renew its Homelessness Partnering Strategy (HPS) with a focus on the Housing First model. Private or public organizations across Canada were eligible for HPS subsidies to implement Housing First programs.

Definition

In 2007 most research and programs in Canada focused on "absolute homelessness" and there was no consistent definition of homelessness. In 2012 the York University-based Canadian Homelessness Research Network (CHRN) released the first Canadian definition of homelessness.

Stephen Gaetz, a homelessness researcher at York University, argued that the detailed classification of homelessness provided governments with more "precision" in creating effective programs to respond to specific needs. Critics included Peter Goldring, an Alberta MP, member of the Edmonton Committee to End Homelessness, who argued that the CHRN's definition of homelessness painted an overly broad picture including those who were "having a hard time financially." Goldring felt that, "You don't want to look at it coldly, but they're really not in desperate need until they're holding that eviction notice in their hand."

Cost of homelessness

Based on the more conservative figure, the annual cost of homelessness in Canada in 2008 was approximately $5.1 to $7 billion in emergency services, organizations, and non-profits.

Some of the homeless who make use of homeless shelters are also employed. Individuals and families are often simply priced out of private housing markets. In 1999, 2.8 million Canadian households (about 26%) fell below the minimum amount required to afford a basic home, gauged at $25,920. Five years later, this number rose to 3.2 million households (remaining about 26%).

History

The term "homeless" came into use in Canada after 1962 in reference to people who were "unhoused" versus those simply living in poor-quality housing. Until the 1980s, this approach to housing policy saw "urban planners, public health officials, and social workers" focus on "rehousing people into better housing and neighbourhoods", not only in Canada but in other wealthier Western countries.

Despite Canada's economy this trend continued, and perhaps even accelerated in the 1990s.

For example, in Toronto admissions to homeless shelters increased by 75% between 1988 and 1998. After 1993 the national affordable housing program initiated in 1973 was cut and Canada's focus in addressing homelessness in the 1990s was to create more homeless shelters and emergency services. Today the CMHC still exists, and its annual surpluses ($7.6 billion in 2006) raises questions as to why some of this money cannot be spent on new housing initiatives.

On December 19, 2006, Prime Minister Harper announced social policies with $526 million of funding to tackle poverty and homelessness in Canada. The Homelessness Partnering Strategy received $270 million and Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation received $246 million to refurbish and renovate affordable housing, as well as to improve access for homeless people to various services and supports such as health and substance abuse treatment programs. Activists protested at Human Resources and Social Services Minister Diane Finley's offices in Ottawa.

The first Canadian national report card on homelessness was compiled by the Canadian Homelessness Research Network (CHRN) and the National Alliance to End Homelessness in 2013.

Causes

Factors that can lead an individual to become homeless vary widely, however the most common reasons include financial challenges, conflict or abuse in previous homes, and health issues. Other factors can include mental disorders, leaving foster care, exiting from jail or hospitalization, immigration, rising housing costs and decreased rent controls, federal and provincial downloading of housing programs, and low social assistance rates. Policy changes are often criticized for punishing the poor instead of trying to solve the underlying problem.

Lack of low-income housing

thumb|right|300px|A homeless Toronto woman sits on a park bench.

While in 1966 30,000 new low-income housing units had been built across Canada, this had fallen to 7,000 in 1999. In the city of Calgary, with one of the most acute housing shortages, only 16 new units of rental housing were built in 1996.

Deinstitutionalization

thumb|275px|A homeless man sleeps on the [[Toronto Transit Commission|TTC subway.]]

The 1950s and 1960s also saw an international movement towards deinstitutionalization of the mentally ill, moving them out of asylums and other facilities, and releasing them into the community. Studies found that the vast majority of those who had been placed in asylums could be healthy and productive members of society if placed in the community and provided with the proper care and medication.

Thus over these decades the number of people confined to mental institutions fell dramatically from just under 70,000 to about 20,000. However, while great savings were made by shutting down empty institutions much of this money was absorbed by general government funds, and did not make it into community care.

No assurances were made that those discharged had access to and were taking the medication they needed. While some of those discharged did integrate with the community, a significant number, estimated at 75%, did not. Many of these individuals became homeless. Today up to 40% of homeless have some sort of mental illness.

Justice system and homelessness

In a paper published in 2010, York University professor, Stephen Gaetz, argued that, "[p]risoners who are sentenced or who are awaiting trial often lose their jobs and housing, and without support, wind up in homeless shelters and drop-ins upon release ... When prisoners become homeless, their chances of reoffending increase."

In 2005 Alberta initiated a three-year program offering an "alternative to sending people to jail or helping them when they are released".

In the 2005 census, 702,650 Canadians were considered to be at-risk for homelessness in that they spent more than 50 percent of their household income on shelter. Lack of income security combined with the lack of affordable housing creates the problem of "hidden homelessness". The "hidden homeless" may actually fall back and forth between homelessness and being housed, making the problem of homelessness much larger than that identified in street or shelter counts. Homelessness is a big problem in major Canadian cities due to the number of people and the cost of housing in cities.

Indigenous living conditions

People of Indigenous background experience disproportionate levels of unstable housing and homelessness, with 1 in 15 Indigenous persons in urban centres experiencing homelessness, compared to 1 in 128 for the general population. First Nation women have the lowest income rate of any group in Canada, and experience the highest rate of violent assaults. They also have a lack of mobility, due in part to reserve laws, and inability to own property.

Indigenous youth are overrepresented in the homeless population of Canada. The European settlers used these schools as a tool to assimilate indigenous youth, which has resulted in decades of trauma that can still be seen in indigenous communities today.

Some researchers, and Indigenous Activists, argue that people living on reserve housing should be considered partly homeless, due to poor living conditions. Since Canada's definition of homelessness includes unsuitable, unstable, or unaffordable housing, reserve housing can be classified under this.

The federal government replaced the NHI with the Homelessness Partnering Strategy (HPS) which was allocated to spend $270 million between 2007 and 2009.

Canada was criticized in 2009 by the United Nations for lacking a national housing strategy (lacking citations). At that point, the federal governments' expenditures were cost-sharing, one-time only funding initiatives that lack long-term leadership on homelessness. The United Nations has also noted the lack of information on these expenditures, including the number of houses produced.

Housing has been declared a fundamental human right. Canada helped to draft the 1948 UN Declaration of Human Rights that includes a right to access housing in Article 25. Canada also ratified the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights in 1976, which recognizes an adequate standard of living, including housing, in Article 11.

Homeless advocates maintain that government funding should be spent on securing affordable housing versus funding more homelessness programs. Pathways to Housing Canada uses the Housing First model, a "client-driven strategy that provides immediate access to an apartment without requiring initial participation in psychiatric treatment or treatment for sobriety."

In 2007 Calgary's Pathways to Housing campaign included the opening of the Alex By 2013 Calgary's Pathways to Housing had 150 individuals in scatter site homes. The Alex Pathways to Housing uses the Housing First model, but it also uses Assertive Community Treatment (ACT), an integrated approach to healthcare where clients access a team of "nurses, mental health specialists, justice specialists and substance abuse specialists." Director Sue Fortune is committed to the 10 Year Plan To End Homelessless in the Calgary Region. Fortune reported that the Housing First approach resulted in a 66 percent decline in days hospitalized (from one year prior to intake compared to one year in the program), a 38 percent decline in times in emergency room, a 41 percent decline in EMS events, a 79 percent decline in days in jail and a 30 percent decline in police interactions.

As of September 2022, Calgary reported a total of 2,782 individuals experiencing homelessness, representing a 4% decrease compared to 2018.

As of October 2024, Calgary recorded 6,701 service requests through 311 regarding homeless encampments, marking a 24% increase compared to the first nine months of 2023 and nearly seven times the number reported in 2018. Additionally, an underground tunnel encampment was discovered during the same year.

British Columbia

In 2001, in British Columbia the service and shelter costs of homeless people ranged from $30,000 to $40,000 annually versus $22,000 to $28,000 per year for formerly homeless persons housed in social housing.

Homelessness in Vancouver

In 2011, there were about 2,651 homeless people in Vancouver.

Notes and references

Notes

References

External links

Addressing Homelessness and Encampments, Ministry of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada
Homelessness: How does it happen?, Statistics Canada
Homelessness, Victimization and Crime: Knowledge and Ac tionable Recommendations, Ministry of Public Safety