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Homelessness In Canada
Overview
Homelessness in Canada has grown in size and complexity by 1997.While historically known as a crisis only of urban centres such as Montreal, Laval, Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, and Toronto the increasing incidence of homelessness in the suburbs is necessitating new services and resources. The demographic profile of Canada's homeless population is also changing. By the end of the 20th century it was reported that, while previously, men comprised the vast majority of homeless persons, now men and children represent the fastest-growing subgroup of the homeless population, followed by youth.In recent years homelessness has become a major social issue in Canada. In Action Plan 2011, the Federal Government of Canada proposed $120 million annually from April 2014 until April 2019—with $700 million in new funding—to renew its Homelessness Partnering Strategy (HPS). In dealing with homelessness in Canada, the focus is on the Housing First model. Thus, private or public organizations across Canada are eligible to receive 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 and public policy initiatives. In 2012 the York University-based Canadian Homelessness Research Network(CHRN) released first Canadian Definition of Homelessness.
"Homelessness describes the situation of an individual or family without stable, permanent, appropriate housing, or the immediate prospect, means and ability of acquiring it. It is the result of systemic or societal barriers, a lack of affordable and appropriate housing, the individual/household’s financial, mental, cognitive, behavioural or physical challenges, and/or racism and discrimination. Most people do not choose to be homeless, and the experience is generally negative, unpleasant, stressful and distressing."
— CHRN, 2012
Stephen Gaetz, a homelessness researcher at York University, argued that the detailed classification of homelessness, provided governments with more “precision” in figuring out how to draw up homeless plans. The report cites 4 typologies: 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."
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.
Cost of Homelessness
Based on the more conservative figure, the annual cost of homelessness in Canada in 2008 was approximately $5.5 to $7 billion in emergency services, organizations, and non-profits.
Misconceptions
Homelessness is actually 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, the distinctly different subgroup of individuals who are "chronically homeless" consume about half of shelter beds and available resources at any given time.
Some of the homeless who make use of homeless shelters are also employed. Individuals and families are simply priced out of private housing markets. In 1999, about 26% or 2.8 million Canadian households fell below the minimum amount required to afford a basic home, gauged at $25,920. Five years later, this number rose to 26% or 3.2 million households.
Causes
Why people become homeless is a complex question and the answers are as unique as each individual's history. People become homeless by many different paths; however, the most common reasons are "inability to pay rent (63%), conflict or abuse (36%), alcohol or drug use problems(10%)”. Other factors can include mental disorders, foster care exits, 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.
While the causes are complex, the solutions to homelessness may be simple: "Homelessness may not be only a housing problem, but it is always a housing problem; housing is necessary, although sometimes not sufficient, to solve the problem of homelessness." Policy changes are often criticized for punishing the poor instead of trying to solve the underlying problem.
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1. Lack of low-income housing
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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.
2. Deinstitutionalization
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A homeless man sleeps on the 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 around 75%, did not. Many of these individuals became homeless. Today up to 40% of homeless have some sort of mental illness.
3. 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." Alberta's Pathways to Housing program, which includes about $7 million in provincial money, has been helping homeless Calgarians who have been in and out of the corrections system due to unpaid tickets for petty crimes.
4. Poverty in Canada
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Poverty remains prevalent with certain groups in Canada. The measurement of poverty has been a challenge as there is no official government measure. Some groups, like the Canadian Council on Social Development and the National Anti-Poverty Organization, believe the low-income cut off published by Statistics Canada is applicable as a poverty measure regardless of whether its intent or designation is to be one. They have argued, that as it stands, the LICO is the best measure available that accurately measures a relative poverty rate.The LICO fell to a near-record low of 9.5% in 2006, down from a recent high of 16.7% in 1994.
In the 2005 census, 702,650 Canadians were considered to be at-risk for homelessness in that they spent more than 50 per cent 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.
5. Cuts to Social Assistance (welfare)
In the late 1990s, under Finance Minister Paul Martin, large cuts were made to transfer payments to Canada's provinces. At the same time, Canada removed a long-standing requirement of each province and territory to provide a livable rate of social assistance to all those in need. This led to a series of cuts to welfare rates and tightened eligibility rules, with many provinces competing with each other to offer the lowest assistance so those in need would leave. Alberta even offered bus tickets for welfare recipients to leave the province. In 2002, B.C.'s newly elected Liberal government introduced welfare reforms which in the coming years removed tens of thousands from that province's welfare rolls. All of this has had the effect of leaving thousands of people without the means to pay for even the most modest accommodation, resulting in many Canadians having no home and thus relying on homeless shelters or else sleeping outside
6. Other reasons are-
• Abuse by government officials, police or by other people with power.
• Domestic violence.
• Forced eviction – In many countries, people lose their homes by government orders to make way for newer upscale high rise buildings, roadways, and other governmental needs. The compensation may be minimal, in which case the former occupants cannot find appropriate new housing and become homeless.
• Lack of accessible healthcare.
• Living with a disability, especially where disability services are non-existent or poorly performing.
• Living with a mental disorder, where mental health services are unavailable or difficult to access.
• Migration, either domestic or foreign to the country, where the number of migrants outstrips the supply of affordable housing.
• Natural disasters, including but not limited to earthquakes and hurricanes.
• Relationship breakdown, particularly in relation to young people and their parents, such as disownment.
• Social exclusion because of sexual orientation (e.g., GLBTQ) and gender identity.
• Substance abuse or addiction, such as alcoholism or drug addiction.
Challenges
The basic problem of homelessness is the need for personal shelter, warmth, and safety. Other difficulties include:
• Cleaning and drying of clothes
• Hostility from the public and laws against urban vagrancy
• Hygiene and sanitary facilities
• Keeping contact with friends, family and government services without a permanent location or mailing address
• Medical problems, including issues caused by an individual's homeless state (e.g., hypothermia or frostbite from sleeping outside in cold weather) or issues which are exacerbated by homelessness, due to lack of access to treatment (e.g., mental health issues which are exacerbated by the individual not having privacy, quiet and a safe place to store prescription drugs for conditions such as schizophrenia)
• Obtaining, preparing and storing food
• Personal security, quiet, and privacy, especially for sleeping, bathing, and other hygiene activities
• Safekeeping of bedding, clothing, and possessions, which may have to be carried at all times
Homeless people face many problems beyond the lack of a safe and suitable home. They are often faced with many social disadvantages also, reduced access to private and public services, gaps in their personal infrastructures, and reduced access to vital necessities:
• General rejection or discrimination from other people.
• Increased risk of suffering from violence and abuse.
• Limited access to education.
• Loss of usual relationships with the mainstream
• Not being seen as suitable for employment.
• Reduced access to banking services
• Reduced access to communications technology
• Reduced access to health care and dental services
• Targeting by municipalities to exclude from public space
• Traumatic brain injury, a condition which, according to a Canadian survey, is widespread among homeless people and, for around 70% of respondents, can be attributed to a time "before the onset of homelessness".
• War or armed conflict, which can create refugees fleeing the violence
1. Assistance and resources
Social Support
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A “Wall of Kindness” in Pakistan provides donated items to homeless people
While some homeless people are known to have a community with one another, providing each other various types of support, people who are not homeless also may provide them friendship, food, relational care, and other forms of assistance. Such social supports may be done through a formal process, such as under the auspices of a non-governmental organization, religious organization, or homeless ministry, or may be done on an individual basis.
2. Income sources
Many non-profit organizations such as Goodwill Industries "provide skill development and work opportunities to people with barriers to employment", though most of these organizations are not primarily geared toward homeless individuals. Many cities also have street newspapers or magazines: publications designed to provide employment opportunity to homeless people or others in need by street sale. While some homeless have paying jobs, some must seek other methods to make money. Begging or panhandling is one option, but is becoming increasingly illegal in many cities. Despite the stereotype, not all homeless people panhandle, and not all panhandlers are homeless. Another option is busking: performing tricks, playing music, drawing on the sidewalk, or offering some other form of entertainment in exchange for donations. In cities where plasmapheresis (blood donation) centers still exist, homeless people may generate income through visits to these centers.
Homeless people can also provide waste management services to earn money. Some homeless people find returnable bottles and cans and bring them to recycling centres to earn money. For example, they can sort out organic trash from other trash, and/or separate out trash made of the same material (for example, different types of plastics, and different types of metal). Especially in Brazil, many people are already engaged in such activities. In addition, rather than sorting waste at landfills, … they can also collect litter found on/beside the road to earn an income. Homeless people have been known to commit crimes just to be sent to jail or prison for food and shelter. In police slang, this is called "three hots and a cot" referring to the three daily meals and a mattress to sleep on which are given to prisoners.
3. Housing
Many housing initiatives involve homeless people in the process of building and maintaining affordable shared housing. This process works as a double impact by not only providing housing but also giving homeless people employment income and work experience. One example of this type of initiative is the nonprofit organization Living Solutions, which is located in downtown San Diego, CA. This community initiative provides the homeless population with a source of housing as well as giving them jobs building affordable homes. The initiative also builds community empowerment by asking formerly homeless residents to help to maintain and repair these homes. Residents are responsible for all household duties, including menu planning, budgeting, shopping, cooking, cleaning, yard work, and home maintenance. The environment of responsibility over a living space fosters a sense of ownership as well as involvement in all parts of the decision-making process
Organizing in homeless shelters
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Homeless shelters can become grounds for community organization and the recruitment of homeless individuals into social movements for their own cause. Cooperation between the shelter and an elected representative from the homeless community at each shelter can serve as the backbone of this form of initiative. The representative presents and forwards problems, raises concerns and provides new ideas to the director and staff of the shelters. A few examples of possible problems are ways to deal with drug and alcohol use by certain shelter users and resolve interpersonal conflicts. SAND, the Danish National Organization for Homeless People, is one example of an organization that uses this empowerment approach. Issues reported at the homeless shelters are then addressed by SAND at the regional or national level. To open further dialogue, SAND organizes regional discussion forums where staff and leaders from the shelters, homeless representatives, and local authorities meet to discuss issues and good practices at the shelters.
4. Political action: voting
Voting for elected officials is important for the homeless population to have a "voice" in the democratic process. Equal access to the right to vote is a crucial part of maintaining a democracy. However, in some jurisdictions, it may be hard for homeless people to vote, if they do not have identification, a fixed address, or a place to receive mail. Voting enables homeless people to play a part in deciding the direction of their communities by voicing their opinions on local, regional and national issues that are important and relevant to their lives. With each election, low income and homeless individuals vote at a lower rate than people with higher incomes, despite the fact that many policy decisions directly impact people who are economically disadvantaged. Currently, issues such as raising the minimum wage and funding certain social welfare and housing programs are being debated in the U.S. Congress and in communities around the country. In order for the government to represent the people, citizens must vote—especially those who are economically disadvantaged. An example of how to overcome these obstacles and encourage greater voter participation among low income and homeless citizens was done by the National Coalition for the Homeless and other national advocacy and grassroots social movement groups. These groups collaborated to create a manual that promotes voting access for low income and homeless persons to ensure that those who are economically disadvantaged maintain an active role and voice in shaping their futures. The manual is designed to provide ideas to help overcome the many obstacles that prevent people experiencing homelessness from becoming registered, active voters. By working together with homeless persons, low-income individuals, and advocates around the country, grassroots social movement organizations can work alongside homeless and low-income persons to make their voices heard on Election Day.
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