Achi news desk-
In order to reduce chronic homelessness in Canada by 50 percent 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 by 20% 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 that the homeless population would be about 15 percent higher.
Still, the PBO analysis says the “best available evidence” suggests homelessness is increasing despite homecoming.
For direct homeless support, the PBO says Canada invests about $561 million a year, and almost all of that goes to the Reaching Home program, which helps provide emergency support to people without shelter, including those living in encampments.
“The truth is we can’t just support homelessness initiatives at a community level and actually end homelessness, which should be the goal,” Housing Minister Sean Fraser said on his way out of the weekly Liberal caucus meeting Wednesday.
“We need to build the affordable housing stock so people have somewhere to go, not just get temporary support.”
Budget 2024 emphasizes housing programs, with approximately $8.5 billion in spending related to housing initiatives, with the goal of building nearly four million more homes in Canada by 2024.
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Referring to the PBO report, Conservative Leader Pierre Poiliber asked Prime Minister Justin Trudeau about Canada’s rising homelessness rates on Wednesday.
“Why is it that the more he spends, the worse things get?” Puliver asked.
“What the leader of the opposition is proposing is austerity and cuts to programs just when Canadians need them the most,” Trudeau replied.
Before question period, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said more action is needed and not just announcing plans to get more people into stable housing.
“What they need to do is start building homes that people can afford, invest in, and then build homes to address the housing crisis, the homeless crisis,” Singh said. “This government makes a lot of announcements but doesn’t do a lot of action. We need to see action to take the seriousness of what we are going through now.”
A PBO analysis of the Reaching Home program found that approximately $1.6 billion was invested in the initiative between 2019/20 and 2022/23. The latest budget proposes an additional $1 billion over the next four years, with an emergency addition of $250 million over the next two years.
The report shows that federal spending does not cause a significant harm to the homeless and the funding from Ottawa represents only a small part of the total spending to address the problem. The PBO points to an analysis of the 2015/16 fiscal year that found for every dollar of federal funding for the homeless, provinces and municipalities contribute $13.02 .
The PBO also says housing placement does not prevent future cases of homelessness on a “one-to-one” basis, as people’s situations can change. However, the report indicates that placing a person experiencing homelessness in stable housing increases the likelihood that they will remain at home.
“To address homelessness, you have to go upstream with no affordable housing stock to find a roof for everyone in this country, we’re never going to end homelessness,” Fraser said. “So at the same time, we need to provide that emergency support to communities through a get-home program or otherwise. We really need to build a new ecosystem of affordable housing if we want to end homelessness.”
© 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
