The state of homelessness in Canada 2014 /

The rise of modern mass homelessness in Canada can be traced directly back to the withdrawal of the Federal government’s investment in affordable housing and pan-Canadian cuts to welfare beginning in the 1980s. [...] The result has been a steep decline in the building of rental housing (or investment units intended to be rental properties) and a massive investment in the building of private homes and condominiums in Canada since the late 1980s.6 While this housing supply is important and benefits many Canadians, the overall shift away from building affordable rental housing has had a major impact on the lives [...] The first State of Homelessness in Canada report showed that while the number of people experiencing chronic or episodic homelessness is relatively low (4,000-8,000 and 13 THE STATE OF HOMELESSNESS IN CANADA 2014 6,000-22,000 respectively), the system incurs great expenses in providing care to these groups. [...] Based on the extensive experience of the Canadian At Home/Chez Soi project, which used the Pathways to Housing model of Housing First for homeless people with mental illness, the toolkit assembles a range of tools and resources that are practical and user-friendly for groups and communities interested in the Housing First approach. [...] By 1993 – after the height of the golden years of federal housing development – more than 700,000 units of social housing had been developed; this represented about 5% of the total housing stock in the country (Pomeroy, 2014).