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Homelessness in Canada

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Man sleeping on Canadian sidewalk.

Homelessness in Canada has grown in size and complexity in recent years. [1] While historically known as a crisis only of urban centres such as Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, and Montreal, the increasing incidence of homelessness in the suburbs is necessitating new services and resources.[2]

The demographic profile of Canada’s homeless population is also changing. While in the past men used to comprise the vast majority of homeless persons, now women and children represent the fastest growing subgroup of the homeless population, followed by youth.[3] In recent years homelessness has become a major political issue in Canada.

Definition

The lack of a consistent definition of homelessness is a contentious issue, however most research and programs focus on “absolute homelessness.” [4] , and public policy initiatives. [5]

Absolute homelessness is what is commonly thought of as “the homeless”. This includes people sleeping outdoors in parks or ravines, begging on the sidewalk, etc.

Sheltered homeless are those who make use of emergency shelters.

Hidden or concealed homeless are people who have lost their homes and are temporarily housed with friends or relatives, “couch surfing”, or doubled up with other families.

The at-risk homeless includes people who are living in substandard or unsafe housing and persons who are spending a very large proportion of their monthly income on housing.

Scope

While counting the homeless is a politically charged and methodologically contentious issue, the federal estimate of the number of homeless people in Canada was 150,000 in 2005, or about 0.5 per cent of the population. Homeless advocates estimated it to be closer to 300,000. [6] Based on the more conservative figure, the annual cost of homelessness in Canada in 2007 was approximately 4.5 to 6 billion in emergency services, community organizations, and non-profits. [7]

Myths

There are many myths about “the homeless.”

Contrary to popular stereotypes, only a small proportion, about 6% in Toronto, of the homeless population suffers from schizophrenia. [8] Much more common are affective disorders, self-reported by 20-40% of Toronto’s homeless. [9]. According to Toronto’s Street Health Report in 2007, one in ten homeless people reports attempted suicide in the past year. [10]

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. [11]

Many of “the homeless” who make use of homeless shelters are also employed. [12] Individuals and families are simply priced out of private housing markets. In 2000, about 22% or 2.5 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. [13]

While some of the “homeless” do perish in the extreme cold of Canadian winters, more die due the extreme heat in summers. [14] The first heat registry system in North America was set up in Toronto’s west end to address this problem in the summer of 2008.

Another common misunderstanding surrounds the homeless who prefer not to use the shelter system. In addition to rules and regulations, shelter users must accept crowded shelter conditions, which carry a high likelihood of TB exposure in inadequately ventilated room, along with risks of bedbugs, scabies, and lice infestations [15]. Living with alcohol or addictions can also deter people from accessing shelters, especially if the shelter does not embrace a harm reduction philosophy. Issues of physical and sexual safety, fear of robbery, and risk of exposure to abuse can also be barriers to accessing shelters.

Therefore homelessness is not only defined strictly by an absolute lack of shelter, but rather by the intersection of a range of social exclusionary factors. Such factors exacerbate poverty, limit opportunities and create barriers to full participation of homeless individuals in Canadian society

History

While in Canada there has always been a certain portion of the population that was very poor, it is not until recently, after the 1980s, that the “homeless” has come to mean the “unhoused” versus those simply living in poor quality housing. [16] Previously, the “homeless” was a general term applied to mostly to transient men with no family ties, such as the migrant workers who travelled by freight hopping during the Great Depression. [17]

Homelessness remained a minor concern 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. [18] The surplus generated by the CMHC was used in the 1980s to fund non-profit, Aboriginal, and rent supplement housing.

However, 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. [19] 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. [20]

About 20,000 social housing units were created every year following the 1973 amendments to the National Housing Act. [21] Starting in the mid 1980s, the federal government initiated a series of cuts in funding for national housing programs. [22] While accurate statistics on the homelessness population are hard to gather, it is the general consensus that the number of homeless increased considerably beginning in the 1980s.

Despite Canada's booming economy this trend continued, and perhaps even accelerated in the 1990s. In Toronto, for instance, admissions to homeless shelters increase by 75% between 1988 and 1998 [23] 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 [24] 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 [25].

Causes

Why people become homeless is a complex question and the answers are as unique as each individual person’s history. People become homeless by many different paths, the risk factors often can include psychological trauma, violence, mental health and addictions, unemployment, 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 [26].

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.” [27]

Lack of low income housing

File:Toronto homeless lady.jpg
A homeless Toronto woman sits on a park bench

One of the most important causes is the unavailability of low income housing. The 1970s saw a transformation in Canadian cities. The previous two decades had seen a steady middle class exodus to the suburbs.

While this had several negative effects on urban centres, it also meant that there was plenty of cheap accommodation. Large houses that had once been home to prosperous families were turned into rental apartments or rooming houses that held up to a dozen people. However, around 1970 this trend reversed itself and prosperous urban professionals became increasingly interested in living near downtown. Rapid gentrification occurred in many neighbourhoods.

Areas such as The Annex in Toronto, False Creek in Vancouver, and The Glebe in Ottawa turned from poorer working class areas to upper middle class bastions in only two decades. No new lower income areas developed, and the amount of low income housing decreased dramatically. The overall amount of downtown housing also decreased during this period as the increase in wealth led to a decrease in density.

Lower income workers, who cannot afford transportation, must live in urban centres but the population of urban cores shrank during this period as multi unit buildings were converted back into single homes. Between 1971 and 1996 the central portion of Toronto lost more than 50,000 units of housing, while the city as a whole grew by more than a million people. Across Canada the rooming houses that had provided extremely cheap accommodation almost disappeared, as did the single room occupancy hotels that had provided temporary and emergency accommodation to the destitute.

While large amounts of lower income housing across Canada was being gentrified, both the government and the private sector failed to provide a new supply of such housing. In the 1950s and 1960s the federal government had been committed to destroying slums and building modern housing projects. This program had many ill effects, the destruction of historic communities, such as Africville near Halifax, and the construction of dramatic failures, such as Regent Park in Toronto, but it did guarantee a steady supply of lower income housing. In 1969, increasingly aware of the problems of this approach, the federal government suspended all slum clearance programs.

They were replaced by government funding for non-profit and cooperative housing. These were generally mixed income cooperative apartments. By most measures these were a success in creating housing for lower income Canadians of a reasonable quality, while avoiding most of the poor social effects of the earlier housing projects. This was in part a result of only 25% of units in the mixed income structures going to income tested residents. This meant that while a similar number of units were being built through government programmes each year, only 25% of these units went to lower income Canadians. This 500% decrease in government intelligent housing led perennial shortages and years long waiting lists for apartments. The mixed income approach also led to controversy as some objected to governments helping build accommodations for those that could afford to live elsewhere these housing initiatives were also quite expensive.

Over the course of the 1980s the government of Brian Mulroney significantly reduced the number of units built each year. In the 1994 federal budget brought in by the new government of Jean Chrétien almost completely halted these federal housing programmes. In 1995 the Ontario government of Mike Harris did the same, ensuring that in Ontario virtually no subsidized housing would be constructed for the next decade. While governments were exiting the business of providing lower income housing, the private sector was also not providing it. In this same era cities and provinces across Canada significantly tightened building codes.

While this ensured that all Canadians could expect their home to meet basic health and safety standards, it also made accommodation more expensive. Minto Developments, one of the largest property developers estimated that the new rules increased building costs by some $8000 per house and landlords would need to charge an extra $70 per month for each rental unit. Other regulatory changes also reduced private investment in low income housing. In 1970 the federal government changed the tax code so that real estate investments were no longer exempt from the capital gains tax. This made investing in rental properties far less attractive.

Over the course of the 1970s most provinces brought in rent control to cope with rampant inflation, this also made the construction of rental properties less attractive to developers. The 1990s saw significant downloading of responsibilities from the federal and provincial governments to the municipal level. In Canada municipal governments are largely funded through property taxes, and as these increased so did housing costs. This led to a nationwide fall in the number of rental units produced.

While in 1986 30,000 new 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. Homelessness is a problem that largely affects white native born Canadians. Immigrants and visible minorities are far less likely to be homeless.[28] Immigrants are also less likely to receive any form of subsidized housing than native Canadians, with the exception of very recently arrived immigrants.[29]

Poverty in Canada

Main article: Poverty in Canada

Poverty in Canada remains prevalent with certain groups in Canada. The measurement of poverty has been a challenge as there is no official government measure. Some groups and experts 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.

In the 2001 census, 702, 600 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 [30]

Solutions

The National Homeless Initiative (NHI), created in 1999, was the federal secretariat most directly responsible for homelessness matters until its closure in 2007. The NHI was created to fund transitional housing and a range of services for homeless people across the country. NHI funded the federal program Supporting Community Partnerships Initiative (SCPI) which covered the costs of temporary shelters and services for the homeless. [31]

The federal government replaced the NHI with the Homelessness Partnering Strategy (HPS) which was allocated to spend $270 million between 2007 and 2009 [32] In September 2008, the Government of Canada announced that it would set aside funding for housing and homelessness programs of $387.9 million per year for the next five years [33]

Canada is one of the few countries in the world without a national housing strategy (United Nations, 2009). Many of the federal governments’ expenditures are 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. [34]

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. [35] Currently, there is a court challenge stipulating that the crisis of homelessness violates the right to security of the person and to equality for disadvantaged groups under sections 7 and 15 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Homeless advocates maintain that government funding should be spent on securing affordable housing versus funding more homelessness programs. [36] 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. [37]

A plan to house Vancouver's homeless was proposed by a local architect. It called for the rapid erection of temporary villages assembled from the same type of modular units that mining companies provide for remote workers. "Stop Gap Shelters" is what architect Gregory Henriquez calls it. "All of us in this community have long been advocates for permanent housing," he said. "But we've gotten to the point where the numbers of homeless are so staggering that I'm left wondering if we will ever catch up doing it that way. I don't think we can. I think there has to be a stop-gap measure. And that's what this is." Henriquez drew up plans for a motel-like village, with 48 to 120 suites clustered around central courtyards. The colourful compound includes a managers' office, a covered patio, and a second storey meeting room. [The Tyee, 2008]

At the municipal level, social service agencies and individuals are being told by the City of Toronto not to “encourage” homeless encampments in Canada by giving out supplies such as blankets and water (CBC news, 2009). The Streets to Homes Initiative was created by the City of Toronto to deal with the homelessness problem. Homelessness, however, is generally not a choice and many people are not appropriately serviced by this program or the shelter system.

Research and Data Collection

The Homeless Individuals and Families Information System (HIFIS) is a records management system used by hundreds of homeless shelters and transition homes in Canada. It provides shelter operators with a user-friendly method of collecting important information on the shelter-using community.

The software, training and technical support are available free-of-charge for the system. Computers and Microsoft software are also available to shelters free-of-charge.

Homelessness as a research subject area is broad, and spans many disciplines. There is a growing body of research in Canada, produced by academics, service providers and government. Research on homelessness is becoming increasingly available through web-based research libraries such as the Homeless Hub (www.homelesshub.ca).

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Gaetz, S., Tarasuk, V., Dackner, N., Kirkpatrick, S. (2006) “Managing” Homeless Youth in Toronto: Mismanaging Food Access & Nutritional Well-being. Canadian Review of Social Policy, 58(43), 1-19.
  2. ^ Laird, Gordon (2007). “Shelter-Homelessness in a growth economy: Canada’s 21st century paradox.” A Report for the Sheldon Chumir Foundation for Ethics in Leadership. [1]
  3. ^ Hulchanski, J.D. (2009). Conference keynote address, Growing Home: Housing and Homelessness in Canada. University of Calgary, February 18, 2009 [2]
  4. ^ Frankish, C., Hwang, S., & Quantz, D. (2005). Homelessness and health in Canada: Research lessons and priorities. Canadian Journal of Public Health, 96(2)
  5. ^ Frankish, C., Hwang, S., & Quantz, D. (2005). Homelessness and health in Canada: Research lessons and priorities. Canadian Journal of Public Health, 96(2)
  6. ^ Laird, Gordon (2007). “Shelter-Homelessness in a growth economy: Canada’s 21st century paradox.” A Report for the Sheldon Chumir Foundation for Ethics in Leadership. [3]
  7. ^ Laird, Gordon (2007). “Shelter-Homelessness in a growth economy: Canada’s 21st century paradox.” A Report for the Sheldon Chumir Foundation for Ethics in Leadership. [4]
  8. ^ Frankish, C., Hwang, S., & Quantz, D. (2005). Homelessness and health in Canada: Research lessons and priorities. Canadian Journal of Public Health, 96(2)
  9. ^ Frankish, C., Hwang, S., & Quantz, D. (2005). Homelessness and health in Canada: Research lessons and priorities. Canadian Journal of Public Health, 96(2)
  10. ^ The Street Health Report 2007: Highlights and Action Plan. Toronto. [www.streethealth.ca]
  11. ^ Laird, Gordon (2007). “Shelter-Homelessness in a growth economy: Canada’s 21st century paradox.” A Report for the Sheldon Chumir Foundation for Ethics in Leadership. [5]
  12. ^ Housing Works: A Special Report 2007. Giving voice to the crisis [www.endhomelessnessottawa.ca]
  13. ^ 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.
  14. ^ Gulliver, T. (2008). York MES Student coordinates first heat registry program [6]
  15. ^ Frankish, C., Hwang, S., & Quantz, D. (2005). Homelessness and health in Canada: Research lessons and priorities. Canadian Journal of Public Health, 96(2)
  16. ^ Hulchanski, J.D. (2009). Conference keynote address, Growing Home: Housing and Homelessness in Canada. University of Calgary, February 18, 2009 [7]
  17. ^ Hulchanski, J.D. (2009). Conference keynote address, Growing Home: Housing and Homelessness in Canada. University of Calgary, February 18, 2009 [8]
  18. ^ Laird, Gordon (2007). “Shelter-Homelessness in a growth economy: Canada’s 21st century paradox.” A Report for the Sheldon Chumir Foundation for Ethics in Leadership. [9]
  19. ^ 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.
  20. ^ Shapcott, M. (September 2006). Executive Summary from “Blueprint to End Homelessness in Toronto. Wellesley Institute (p.7).
  21. ^ Hulchanski, J.D. (2009). Conference keynote address, Growing Home: Housing and Homelessness in Canada. University of Calgary, February 18, 2009 [10]
  22. ^ 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.
  23. ^ 2000 Report Card on Homelessness, City of Toronto. [11]
  24. ^ Laird, Gordon (2007). “Shelter-Homelessness in a growth economy: Canada’s 21st century paradox.” A Report for the Sheldon Chumir Foundation for Ethics in Leadership. [12]
  25. ^ Laird, Gordon (2007). “Shelter-Homelessness in a growth economy: Canada’s 21st century paradox.” A Report for the Sheldon Chumir Foundation for Ethics in Leadership, p.15. [13]
  26. ^ Hulchanski, J.D. (2009). Conference keynote address, Growing Home: Housing and Homelessness in Canada. University of Calgary, February 18, 2009 [14]
  27. ^ Cushing N. Dolbeare, 1996, “Housing Policy: A General Consideration,” in Homelessness in America, 1996, p, 34
  28. ^ Hammer, Kate. "Toronto's white underbelly." The Globe and Mail. May 17, 2008.
  29. ^ Baker, Michael and Dwayne Benjamin "The Receipt of Transfer Payments by Immigrants to Canada." The Journal of Human Resources 1995
  30. ^ Laird, Gordon (2007). “Shelter-Homelessness in a growth economy: Canada’s 21st century paradox.” A Report for the Sheldon Chumir Foundation for Ethics in Leadership. [15]
  31. ^ Shapcott, M. (October 2007). “Ten Things You Should Know about housing and homelessness.” Wellesley Institute. Policy Primer.
  32. ^ Laird, Gordon (2007). “Shelter-Homelessness in a growth economy: Canada’s 21st century paradox.” A Report for the Sheldon Chumir Foundation for Ethics in Leadership, p.30. [16]
  33. ^ Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation. Government of Canada website [17]
  34. ^ 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.
  35. ^ Experiencing Homelessness: Fourth Report Card on Ending Homelessness in Ottawa—January to December 2007. The Alliance to End Homelessness in Ottawa, 2008. [www.endhomelessnessottawa.ca]
  36. ^ Laird, Gordon (2007). “Shelter-Homelessness in a growth economy: Canada’s 21st century paradox.” A Report for the Sheldon Chumir Foundation for Ethics in Leadership. [18]
  37. ^ Margaret, E. et al, (2001). “Homelessness—Causes and Effects, Volume 3: The Costs of Homelessness in British Columbia. Ministry of Social Development and Economic Security.” Government of British Columbia.

References

  • Agencies Helping the Homeless Told Not to Encourage Encampments, CBC News, January 16, 2009.
  • Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation. Government of Canada website: http://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/en/corp/nero/nere/2008/2008-09-19-1000.cfm
  • Experiencing Homelessness: Fourth Report Card on Ending Homelessness in Ottawa—January to December 2007. The Alliance to End Homelessness in Ottawa, 2008. See www.endhomelessnessottawa.ca
  • Frankish, C., Hwang, S., & Quantz, D. (2005). Homelessness and health in Canada: Research lessons and priorities. Canadian Journal of Public Health, 96(2).
  • Gaetz, S., Tarasuk, V., Dackner, N., Kirkpatrick, S. (2006). “Managing” Homeless Youth in Toronto: Mismanaging Food Access & Nutritional Well-being. Canadian Review of Social Policy, 58(43), 1-19.
  • Gulliver, T. (2008). York MES Student coordinates first heat registry program. http://www.yorku.ca/yfile/archive/index.asp?Article=10875
  • Home Safe. A four-part film series by Filmmaker Laura Sky and Street Nurse Cathy Crowe. Available at http://tdrc.net/index.php?page=homesafe
  • Housing Works: A Special Report 2007. Giving voice to the crisis. Available at www.endhomelessnessottawa.ca
  • Hulchanski, J.D. (2009). Conference keynote address, Growing Home: Housing and Homelessness in Canada. University of Calgary, February 18, 2009, Canadian Policy Research Networks http://www.cprn.org/documents/51110_EN.pdf
  • Hwang, Stephen W. "Homelessness and Health." CMAJ, January 23, 2001; 164 (2)
  • Layton, Jack, Homelessness: The Making and Unmaking of a Crisis ISBN 0-14-028888-0
  • Margaret, E. et al, (2001). “Homelessness—Causes and Effects, Volume 3: The Costs of Homelessness in British Columbia. Ministry of Social Development and Economic Security.” Government of British Columbia.
  • Murphy, Barbara. On the Street: How We Created the Homeless. Winnipeg: J. Gordon Shillingford, c2000.
  • Laird, Gordon (2007). “Shelter-Homelessness in a growth economy: Canada’s 21st century paradox.” A Report for the Sheldon Chumir Foundation for Ethics in Leadership.
  • Shapcott, M. (September 2006). Executive Summary from “Blueprint to End Homelessness in Toronto. Wellesley Institute (p.7).
  • Shapcott, M. (October 2007). “Ten Things You Should Know about housing and homelessness.” Wellesley Institute. Policy Primer.
  • 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.
  • “A Snapshot of Homelessness in Canada,” National Homelessness Initiative (2006). www.homelessness.gc.ca
  • Street Health Report 2007: Highlights and Action Plan. Toronto. www.streethealth.ca
  • 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.
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