Homelessness In Canada
Recently, I attended a training session on homelessness which opened my eyes to the topic and the actions that we must take as a society to put an end to this unfortunate and inhumane social issue. The speaker was Stephen Gaetz, a Professor at the Faculty of Education at York University and the Director of the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness and the Homeless Hub. He is also the President of Raising the Roof, a leading Canadian charity that focuses on long term solutions to homelessness.
Here are some facts that I learned from his lecture (statistics are rough estimates):
- Over 235,000 Canadians experience homelessness in a year
- 35,000 people a night are homeless
- 47.5% are single adult men (25-55 years old)
- Living on the streets is unsafe for women as family violence is a major reason women are homeless
- Youth 16-24 years old make up 20% of the homeless population. The causes are unique and include abuse, low income from minimum wage jobs and lack of affordable housing
- In Toronto, 18% of homeless are Aboriginal
- New Canadians are a growing homeless population
Homelessness as a Problem:
- Society created the homelessness problem
- High paying jobs are disappearing
- Incomes have declined at the same time as increasing housing prices
- There is a focus on tax credits in Canada - instead of spending more directly on childcare for instance
- Reductions in welfare payments
- Wages haven't kept up with inflation
- From 1980s-1990s, the government reduced spending on affordable housing to balance the budget
- National investment in housing decreased (including rental)
- Rise in homelessness in 1990s was a result of shifts in government policy
Causes of Homelessness
- Family conflict, job loss, accidents (disability), mental health and addiction
- Racism, discrimination and homophobia
- Patients that are discharged from hospitals without any support or guidance
- Less rehabilitation programs
Myth: people choose to be homeless - most leave home (or a desperate situation) not because they want to but due to a violent situation, sexual abuse, etc.
- When they leave, they lose everything: family, natural supports, friends and guidance from relatives
- Health worsens- mental health impacted, depression, disease, nutritionally vulnerable
- Addictions follow to “numb the pain”
- Sexual exploitation arises especially for women on the streets that need to make some money
- Gangs and criminal involvement increases - for self-protection and to feed a drug habit
- Homeless are victims of crime as whatever little they own is stolen on the streets, shelters, etc.
- 38% of young homeless women were sexually assaulted in the past year
Canadian Response to Homelessness should be:
Prevention
Emergency Response
Housing and Supports
- We have come to rely on emergency services too much
- What we really need are prevention and housing supports
- Alberta - is way ahead of Ontario on homelessness as they have a provincial strategy to end homelessness
- Medicine Hat has virtually ended homelessness as the city has invested in affordable housing
What is Toronto Public Library Doing:
- Toronto Public Library has partnered with Toronto Public Health and the City of Toronto’s Streets to Homes to launch a pilot program. The program is currently available two days per week at Toronto Reference Library and Yorkville branch
- Toronto Public Health nurses help people connect to health resources for mental health and addiction
- Nurses rove around these branches, checking in with security and librarians about what help is needed
Bookmobile Outreach to Family Shelters
- Bookmobile outreach and storytimes at Toronto shelters serve women with children
- Staff register library cards for kids and residents enabling them to borrow books from the bookmobile for extended loan periods
- Shelter residents don’t get fines and can return books in their shelter
The Toronto Reference Library will also have a program in April with Stephen Gaetz as part of their Thought Exchange programming :
For more information about this important issue, please see the following books, which can be borrowed from the Toronto Public Library:
DVDs:
Home safe. Toronto a documentary
Crowe, Cathy, 1952-; MacDonald, Laurel; Sky, Laura; Strong, Phil
Year/Format: 2009, DVD, 1 videodisc (96 min.)
Additional reading:
Youth homelessness in Canada: implications for policy and practice
Housing first in Canada: supporting communities to end homelessness
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