Alberta government announces plan to end homelessness by 2019!

Yesterday, the government of Alberta released a ground-breaking new plan that aims to end homelessness in the province over the next ten years.

The Alberta Secretariat for Action on Homelessness has created a Plan for Alberta with the objective of ending homelessness by 2019. It aims to do this by using a “housing first” philosophy which first provides rapid housing for people who are homeless and then offers supportive programs and services to assist them in remaining housed. It also aims to prevent homelessness by funding a variety of emergency services and provincial social support programs.

High levels of economic growth in Alberta, largely from oil sands development, have led to rapid growth in many cities and communities across the province. In addition, a rising cost of living in relation to income, a high influx of temporary workers, and a serious shortage of affordable housing has also led to a rise in homelessness.

In most provinces, many people who are homeless suffer from mental illness and addiction. While this is true in Alberta as well, housing shortages have become so severe that healthy people who have a job are not able to find housing either. In fact, an astonishing 25 percent of people who are homeless are also employed.

Altogether, an estimated 11,000 people are currently homeless in Alberta, and this number is expected to rise if there is not substantial investment in affordable housing and related support programs. Fortunately, there will be. The new provincial plan allocates $1.2 billion in capital investments and $2 billion in operative funding for the creation of 11,000 new homes by 2012, or one housing unit for every homeless person.

A decade ago, Alberta was not known as a province that provided substantial funding for affordable housing or social services. However, in recent years the provincial government has dramatically increased its funding for affordable housing. In fact, in 2007-2008, Alberta’s housing investments grew an astonishing 140 percent! And the $4.57 billion that it currently spends does not include the newly scheduled funding for its plan to reduce homelessness.

Homelessness is an issue that is present in every province. Provincial strategies can build upon the work of community organizations, NGOs, businesses and citizens in addressing the problem. Organizations such as B.C.’s StreetoHome Foundation have been working to build strategies that involve all of these groups to address the root causes of homelessness.

Alberta’s initiative to end homelessness is the first of its kind in Canada. While Ontario has also increased investments in affordable housing in recent years, these have not approached the level to which Alberta is committing.

Alberta’s plan was created in consultation with affordable housing and homelessness groups in communities across the province. The establishment of it developed out of community-based groups in cities such as Calgary, Red Deer and Edmonton that developed their own local and regional 10-year plans to end homelessness and lobbied the provincial government to act on the issue as well.

CPJ welcomes the announcement of Alberta’s initiative and commends the provincial government – and the housing and homelessness groups that advocated for its creation – for their efforts to work towards ending homelessness. We look forward to seeing the details of the plan in the provincial budget to be released next month, and hope that other provinces will follow Alberta’s lead in ensuring that every person has a safe and decent home to live in with dignity.