Advocates welcomed the federal government’s plan to end homelessness within 10 years while saying the crisis has been growing for decades.
The Story
Advocates say the federal government’s pledge to end homelessness within 10 years is welcome, but they argue the problem has been building for decades.
This week’s federal budget estimated about 65,000 Canadians are homeless.
Tim Richter of the Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness said that estimate reflects “one day, one night,” and does not capture how many different people experience homelessness over a longer period. “That 65,000 number is one day, one night, but that doesn't tell you the number of different people who will experience homelessness in the year, which is exponentially bigger,” Richter said.
Richter said he believes the crisis began to take shape in the 1990s, when the federal government stopped funding social housing. He added that homelessness has “exploded” since 2018, citing higher rents, a higher cost of living and a toxic drug crisis, along with increases in homelessness during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Nick Falvo, editor of the International Journal on Homelessness, said people are increasingly seeing homelessness-related impacts in their own communities, including visible poverty and the effects of overdose crises. “I think voters are getting increasingly concerned about visible manifestations of poverty in the streets. I think voters are seeing the results of an overdose crisis,” Falvo said.
The federal government says it plans to “create the conditions to end homelessness” by setting up a new fund to support projects addressing health, addictions and social supports. Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne called the plan one of the government’s “flagship” policies.
The government has pledged $11.2 billion over the next four years to address homelessness, including funding for transitional and permanent housing and integrated social supports for mental health and addiction.
The federal government also plans to put billions of dollars into the Canada Housing Benefit over the next decade to help low-income Canadians cover rent.
Richter said he hopes the 10-year federal plan will help rally provinces and cities to tackle what the government has called “one of Canada’s most urgent social challenges.”
← More stories