Thank you very much, and good afternoon. It's great to be invited back as a witness for this committee and its important role. My name is Susan McGee. I am the chief executive officer of Homeward Trust Edmonton. We are a community-based organization using a system-planning approach to end homelessness in Edmonton. We are a local entity reporting on and supporting the implementation of Reaching Home, and we have actively supported the evolution of our national housing strategy and homelessness strategies through a variety of ways.
I am also the regional representative for Alberta on the board of the Canadian Housing and Renewal Association, and have been a member of CHRA's indigenous caucus since its inception. I'm joined by Matthew Ward, the manager of planning and engagement at Homeward Trust. Matt's role includes supporting the indigenous advisory council in our current consultation to inform the next phase of our pandemic response to indigenous community members in Edmonton.
Homeward Trust brings together funding from all orders of government to support service providers, indigenous communities, and government partners in Edmonton to collectively plan, action and monitor solutions to end homelessness. We have served as the local entity since 1999. In 2008 we restructured, merging two other organizations under one comprehensive structure, with a minimum of four of our nine board members identifying as indigenous and with a separate indigenous advisory council serving as the indigenous community advisory board.
We're grateful for the opportunity to speak today about the Government of Canada's examination of urban, rural and northern indigenous housing solutions to end homelessness for indigenous people. As is the case across Canada, indigenous people are greatly overrepresented amongst those experiencing homelessness in Edmonton, with indigenous people currently representing 58% of our by-names list, while indigenous people make up roughly 5% of our city's total population, and this is growing.
Homeward Trust works in partnership with and directly funds 14 local indigenous organizations, using Reaching Home indigenous funding but also our Reaching Home designated communities funding and our provincial and municipal resources as well. This is done to maximize the use of this funding while reducing the administrative work for front-line agencies to support the outcomes for multiple funders, and to support the coordinated sector response.
This committee has heard from indigenous leaders and organizations on the critical importance of increased investment directly targeting the housing and support needs of indigenous community members. There are multiple sources that document the reality that indigenous people living in urban, rural and northern communities face specific challenges in having their needs met, wherever they are, through indigenous-led efforts that are best positioned to understand and address local community needs.
Homeward Trust supports the “for indigenous, by indigenous” approach before the committee and recognizes that a specific national strategy that is indigenous-led is required. Such a strategy should leverage the experience and knowledge of local organizations and leaders, and support local priorities that reflect the specific needs of their communities as well as the diversity of indigenous culture across our country.
The need for affordable housing has so outpaced existing resources for so long and the projects that meet real affordability requirements and provide sufficient supports to enable individuals and families the opportunity to improve their circumstances are so challenging to develop and deliver with current application requirements that we are in a deep hole. The overrepresentation of indigenous people among those requiring housing is well known. Without a specific national indigenous housing strategy to drive outcomes, we will perpetuate these circumstances for generations to come.
Many studies have come to the same conclusion. They may vary in their amounts or in where costs are incurred, but we know that homelessness costs more than its solutions. We know what those solutions are. We understand the importance of clear plans, and relying on evidence and targets drives much of our work at Homeward Trust. However, we also understand that perfection is the enemy of the good. We strongly encourage members of the committee and all members of Parliament to prioritize action and move forward with the well-earned confidence in indigenous organizations and leaders as partners in this effort.
Thank you for the opportunity to speak today. Matt and I will be available for questions.