Homelessness in Canada refers to the condition of individuals and families lacking stable, permanent, and adequate housing, and includes both visible forms of homelessness (such as living in shelters or public spaces) and less visible forms such as crisis accommodation, couch surfing, or living in unsafe or overcrowded conditions.
The Canadian government housing policies and programs in place throughout the 1970s were based on a concept of shelter as a basic need or requirement for survival and of the obligation of government and society to provide adequate housing for everyone.
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.Canadian Homelessness Research Network (2012) Canadian Definition of Homelessness. Retrieved from
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. The report cites four categories of homelessness, unsheltered, emergency-sheltered, provisionally-accommodated, and at risk of homelessness. The definition received a lot of support from advocates for the homeless. 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."
Timeline Until the 1980s, homelessness was not seen as a social problem. 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.
In the 1990s, a series of cuts were made to national housing programs by the federal government. 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.
Homeless count By 2008 the annual homeless count was considered to be a politically charged and methodologically contentious issue. The federal estimate of the core number of homeless people in Canada was 200,000 in 2005, or about 1 per cent of the population. Homeless advocates estimated it to be closer to 20,000 annually, or 30,000 on any given night plus those in the hidden homeless category. This includes 6,000 youth nightly and 30,000 youth annually. The percentage of Indigenous people who are homeless is more than three times compared to the rest of the population.
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.
Misconceptions Homelessness is a chronic problem for only a small minority of people; the vast majority of individuals are "one-time only" shelter users or experience episodic homelessness. However, this distinctly different subgroup of individuals who are "chronically homeless" consume about half of shelter beds and available resources at any given time.The State of Homelessness in Canada [www.homelesshub.ca/SOHC2014]
Some of the homeless who make use of homeless shelters are also employed.Housing Works: A Special Report 2008. Giving voice to the crisis [www.endhomelessnessottawa.ca] 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%).Shapcott, M. (2008). New income numbers confirm growing income inequality; One-in-four Canadian households below fair housing income; New figures underline urgent need for national housing strategy. Wellesley Institute Backgrounder: Growing Income Inequality.
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. Previously, the "homeless" was a general term applied mostly to transient men with no family ties, such as the migrant workers who travelled by freight hopping during the Great Depression.
Homelessness remained a minor concern as long as extremely cheap accommodation was available in 'skid row' rooming houses or flophouses located in the poorest parts of most major cities. Even the most destitute could find some form of housing, even if its quality was abysmal.
At the end of the Second World War in 1946, the federal government created the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) to make mortgages and home ownership more accessible to people and organizations. The surplus generated by the CMHC was used in the 1980s to fund non-profit, Aboriginal, and rent supplement housing.
Homelessness in Canada was not a social problem until the 1980s, according to the University of Toronto's J. David Hulchanski keynote lecture at a 2009 conference, "Housing and Homelessness in Canada". Hulchanski said that public housing policies through the 1970s were based on a concept of shelter as a basic need for survival and that both society and government had responsibilities and obligations to see that see that everyone was adequately housed. 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. About 20,000 social housing units were created every year following the 1973 amendments to the National Housing Act.
Starting in the mid-1980s, the federal government initiated a series of cuts in funding for national housing programs.
During the 1980s the social problem of dehousing had emerged in which people who were previously housed started to experience dehousing.
During 1987, the International Year of Shelter for the Homeless (IYSH), conferences on homelessness were held all across Canada. A 1988 report endorsed by participants at the Ottawa conference, said that a "significant component of the homelessness problem is that housing has not been a high priority for governments at any level." The report noted that while there was a demand for "adequate and affordable" housing for low income households, there was insufficient "government funds to carry out effective social housing programs".
A 1999 comprehensive Parliamentary Research Bureau report said that while it was difficult to provide exact statistics on the number of people experiencing homelessness in the 1980s in Canada, their research showed that homelessness was increasing and that it affected a "wider segment of the population". This was evident as groups of people began to use emergency shelters and soup kitchens for the first time; shelters were becoming overcrowded, and the demand for services for the homeless was constantly increasing.
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 1998.2000 Report Card on Homelessness, City of Toronto 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. A decade later in 2003 the federal government resumed spending on housing investment at $2.03 billion, a 25% decline from 1993 levels of $1.98 billion when adjusted for inflation.
Following changes to Canada's National Housing Act housing act in 1996 to give the CMHC "more flexibility", it was able to directly fund social housing and its role in supporting new and existing affordable housing diminished.United Nations (2009). Report of the Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living, and on the right to non-discrimination in this context, Miloon Kothari. Based on Mission to Canada 9–22 October 2007. 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.Shapcott, M. (September 2006). Executive Summary from "Blueprint to End Homelessness in Toronto. Wellesley Institute (p.7).
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.Stephen Gaetz, Jesse Donaldson, Tim Richter, & Tanya Gulliver (2013)."The State of Homelessness in Canada." Toronto: Canadian Homelessness Research Network Press. This research used the 2012 Canadian Homelessness Research Network (CHRN)definition of homelessness.
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.