Homelessness In Canada

Question 1

Homelessness

Answer 1

• Visible expression of poverty
• Visual expression of social inequality
• Multiple pathways to homelessness
• stereotyping of homelessness
• Growing urban concern in Canada
• More than no home.. Social justice issue

Question 2

Stereotypes of Homelessness

Answer 2

• Unemployed people
• Choices of lifestyle
• Sleep outside
• Exclusively older male adults
• Panhandling main source of income
• Transients, from some other place

Question 3

Homelessness in Canada

Answer 3

Homelessness can grow during time of economic boom (1990s)

Causes include increased rent, housing costs
Job transitioning

Cause may include gentrification

Many other social and health-related factors that contribute to homelessness ….

Homelessness in Canada grew after federal gov retreat from affordable housing programs in 1980s

Question 4

Homelessness Definition

Answer 4

United Nations
- No place to call home, sleep outside, or in a temporary shelter (absolute homeless)

• Access to housing that lacks on e of : safe water, sanitation, secure tenure, affordability, safety, access to daily needs. (relative homeless)

Question 5

Continuum

Answer 5

• Extremes from relative to absolute homeless
• New challenge for cities
• a form of poverty, tied to access to employment sufficient to cover housing
• Housing affordability stress
• Cutbacks in gov’t affordable housing programs since 1990s

Question 6

Causes

Human Agency

Answer 6

• Capacity of the individual, addiction, disability, mental illness

Question 7

Causes

Structural

Answer 7

• Failings of capitalist housing markets, gentrification, failed labour markets, limited construction of affordable rental housing

Question 8

Youth Homelessness 2018\CANADA//

Answer 8

On any given night 6,000 youths homeless

1 in 5 people living in homeless shelters

Ages 15 and 24

Youth at risk, vulnerable to exploitation

Poor lifestyle choices

Complex causes leading to homelessness

Intervention needed on many levels

Question 9

Calgary Stats 2002

Answer 9

Evicted 7.2%
Addiction 5%
Transient, fire, refugee 7%

Abuse, family breakdown 16%

Lost job/unemployed 12.5%

Can’t find accommodation 8%

Can’t afford rent 17.5%

From local area 27%

Question 10

How many in Canada as of 2016

Answer 10

235,000 Canadians homeless annually

35,000 Canadians homeless on any given night

6,000 Canadian youth on a given night

65,000 youth homeless annually

Question 11

Homelessness and Housing

Answer 11

Shortfall of 100,000 affordable units last 20 years

50% of renters pay over 30% income on housing VS
20% of homeowners paying over 30%

Median income $37,000 (renters) vs $74,000

Question 12

Suggestions

Answer 12

New Federal housing programs

Investments to target homeless people

Affordability tax credit

Investments in First Nations housing

Cost of doing nothing? $7B annually

National housing program $4.4B annually

Question 13

Homeless – a definition

Answer 13

“homelessness” as living in a shelter, on the street, or in other places not intended for human habitation. We also considered people who were couch surfing (i.e. staying temporarily with family or friends) to be homeless.

Question 14

Defining homelessness

Answer 14

Two important facets of homelessness

1. the specific housing situation
2. the duration and frequency of homeless episodes

Question 15

absolute homelessness

Answer 15

only those living on the street or in emergency shelters.

Question 16

Hidden or concealed homelessness:

Answer 16

people without a place of their own who live in a car, with family or friends, or in a long-term institution

Question 17

relative homelessness

Answer 17

those who are housed but who reside in substandard shelter and/or who may be at risk of losing their homes

Question 18

chronic homelessness

Answer 18

long-term or repeated homelessness, often experienced by those with chronic illness or addiction problems

Question 19

cyclical homelessness

Answer 19

resulting from a change of circumstance, for example having been released from an institution

Question 20

temporary homelessness

Answer 20

relatively short in duration, sometimes caused by natural disasters or a house fire

Question 21

Housing First

Answer 21

• Housing First is a recovery-oriented approach to ending homelessness
• moves people experiencing homelessness into independent and permanent housing
• providing additional supports and services as needed
• first popularized by Sam Tsemberis and Pathways to Housing in New York in the 1990s