To reduce chronic homelessness in Canada by 50 per cent in the 2027/28 fiscal year, the Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) estimates it would cost the federal government an additional $3.5 billion annually.
This comes as the PBO estimates that the number of Canadians experiencing chronic homelessness has increased 20 per cent since 2018, reaching 34,270 people.
Meanwhile, the PBO estimates that Infrastructure Canada’s Reaching Home program has helped 6,000 people escape chronic homelessness. Without this program, the PBO estimates the homeless population would be approximately 15 percent higher.
Still, the PBO analysis says the “best available evidence” suggests homelessness has increased despite Reaching Home.
For direct support to the homeless, the PBO says Canada contributes approximately $561 million annually, with almost all of it going to the Reaching Home program, which helps provide emergency support to unsheltered people, including those living in encampments. .
“The truth is that we cannot simply support homelessness initiatives at the community level and truly end homelessness, which must be the goal,” Housing Minister Sean Fraser said as he emerged from the weekly meeting of the liberal group on Wednesday.
“We need to build an affordable housing stock so people have a place to go, not just receive temporary support.”
Budget 2024 places an emphasis on housing programs, with around $8.5 billion in spending tied to housing initiatives, with the goal of building almost four million more homes in Canada by 2024.
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Referencing the PBO report, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre asked Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Wednesday about rising rates of homelessness in Canada.
“Why is it that the more you spend, the worse things get?” —Poilievre asked.
“What the opposition leader is proposing is austerity and program cuts at exactly the time when Canadians need them most,” Trudeau responded.
Before question period, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said more action is needed and not just announcing programs to get more people into stable housing.
“What they need to do is start building housing that people can afford, invest in it and then build housing to address the housing crisis and the homelessness crisis,” Singh said. “This government makes many announcements but does not take many measures. “We need to take steps to take what we are going through right now seriously.”
The PBO’s analysis of the Reaching Home program found that around $1.6 billion has been allocated to the initiative between fiscal years 2019/20 and 2022/23. The latest budget proposes an additional $1 billion over the next four years, with an emergency top-up of $250 million over the next two years.
The report suggests federal spending is not making a significant dent on homelessness and that Ottawa’s funding represents only a small portion of total spending to address the problem. The PBO points to an analysis of the 2015/16 fiscal year that found that for every dollar of federal funding for homeless people, provinces and municipalities contribute $13.02.
The PBO also says housing placement does not prevent future cases of homelessness “one by one,” as people’s situations can change. However, the report indicates that placing a homeless person in stable housing increases the likelihood that they will remain housed.
“To address homelessness, we must move forward without an affordable housing stock to find a roof over our heads for everyone in this country, we will never end homelessness,” Fraser said. “So at the same time, we have to provide emergency support to communities through the Reaching Home program or otherwise. “We really need to build a new ecosystem of affordable housing if we want to end homelessness.”
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