Human Resources Committee on May 28th, 2026

[Sandra Clarkson]

The Calgary Drop-In Centre is an adult-serving organization, but in terms of what we're noticing in the city of Calgary, there are a significant number of homeless youths. With our community partners, we've done a really great job of trying to intervene very quickly. You mentioned earlier the importance of having a quick intervention. In fact, they've reduced the number of youth shelter beds in the city of Calgary because they are able to do that prevention diversion work quite effectively.

Continued investment in that upstream effort is a critical component of this solution.

[Natilien Joseph, Liberal, Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC]

Thank you, Ms. Clarkson.

Mr. Beauregard, I would also like to address you on this matter. We know that in Quebec, after the Youth Protection Branch has been involved, there are risks. You mentioned this in your remarks. However, I imagine these are not the only risks.

Can you specify the main risks regarding youth homelessness in Quebec? We have also discussed the other provinces.

[Gilles Beauregard]

What risks are you referring to?

[Natilien Joseph, Liberal, Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC]

I am talking about the risks associated with homelessness among young people.

[Gilles Beauregard]

As Ms. Clarkson said, the longer we wait to intervene, the greater the risk that young people will face various problems. For example, they don't file their taxes, they get into legal trouble, they get traffic tickets, they get recruited by street gangs. It's an attractive environment once you start laying out all the resources. That's why, at a certain point, we don't really want our people to turn to those resources.

Let me give you an example. Currently, in Longueuil, we have a large shelter that houses many adults. There are serious cases of chronic homelessness. We have a youth centre, and we tend to direct them toward a centre that provides housing for about fifteen young people. We prefer to direct them to resources of this type, where there is more support, because we know that large shelters or encampments are not conducive to social reintegration. When they end up in youth housing facilities, we have greater capacity to support them; we can better take care of them and help them move on. We want to intervene quickly.

[Natilien Joseph, Liberal, Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Beauregard.

Ms. Clarkson, in your remarks, you spoke about the importance of investing in all areas of the service continuum. Could you tell us more about this aspect in more concrete terms?

[Sandra Clarkson]

As I mentioned, we're working with a system that was designed 25 years ago for very different population needs. A system transformation fund could be a very important part of looking at the holistic continuum of care and having the ability to do things like the housing-focused transformation we did, for instance, which has shown amazing results. It's a recognition that from prevention and diversion through to housing, with long-term supports that may be required for some.... Without looking at the entire system of care and continuum of care, we will continue to simply manage the issue, as opposed to working towards solving the issue.

[Natilien Joseph, Liberal, Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC]

Thank you, Ms. Clarkson.

Mr. Beauregard, do you believe that more predictable and flexible funding would allow organizations to devote more resources to direct services rather than administrative management?

[Gilles Beauregard]

Yes, absolutely. I said that earlier. It's a major problem. Personally, I've been dealing with it from the start. Whether it's the Community Action Partnerships Initiative or the homelessness partnering strategy, the situation has always been the same in all these programs.

[Natilien Joseph, Liberal, Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bobby Morrissey]

Thank you, Mr. Joseph, Mr. Beauregard, and Ms. Clarkson.

Both the witnesses gave very good testimony.

Before we close, Ms. Clarkson, you referenced earlier high system users. Could you explain high system users?

[Sandra Clarkson]

We use that—in the City of Calgary, anyway—to refer to individuals who have a significant number of interactions with police, the emergency room, shelters and social service providers.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bobby Morrissey]

I thought it meant demands on the capital system. It's outside. Thank you for the clarity.

Thank you so much for the compelling testimony you gave the committee this morning.

Committee members, we will meet again on Monday.

Thank you, everyone.

The meeting is adjourned.

We are adjourned.