Thank you.
Good morning, Mr. Chair and members of the committee.
My name is Michelle Boileau. I am the mayor of the City of Timmins, in northern Ontario, and the chair of the standing committee on social economic development at the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, or FCM.
Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today on behalf of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, which represents more than 2,000 municipalities and nearly 90% of the Canadian population.
I'm here to say that this study could not have come at a better time. All across Canada, large cities and small municipalities alike are facing a homelessness crisis that is growing in scale and complexity. Shelters are under pressure, encampments are multiplying and local services are being stretched to the limit.
The renewal of the national housing strategy is a critical opportunity to learn from experience and build on what is working. Municipalities are at the front line of this crisis, and we see its human impacts first-hand. These are our neighbours. Because we're rooted in our communities, we understand what is needed on the ground, but we cannot solve homelessness alone. We all have a part to play, and now is not the time to walk away.
Real and meaningful progress requires all orders of government pulling in the same direction to ensure our most vulnerable residents are not left behind. Provinces and territories oversee many of the health, social service and housing supports that people rely on. The federal government plays a critical leadership role through investments and national policy coordination. A renewed national housing strategy must be anchored in a housing first approach.
FCM welcomes federal investments to increase the supply of affordable non-market housing, but buildings alone, as we know, do not solve homelessness. Communities also need operating funding, alongside capital funding, so that supportive housing providers can deliver mental health supports, addiction services, outreach and case management.
We also need to move beyond a crisis response and embrace prevention. The most effective way to reduce homelessness is to keep people housed in the first place. Every day, Canadians are falling into homelessness more and more because of rising rents and economic pressures, but they are, above all, falling through system gaps.
Investments such as rent supplements, portable housing benefits and programs like the Canada housing benefit can prevent homelessness before it begins by helping low-income households remain stably housed. As we know, not only is prevention more humane, it is also far less costly than responding after someone has already lost their housing.
FCM's most urgent recommendation is to maintain and expand Reaching Home. It is the backbone of local homelessness responses across Canada, supporting shelters, outreach teams, housing stabilization services, indigenous-led initiatives, encampment responses, and the community organizations working every day to help people move from homelessness into housing, because they are helping people move through the continuum.
However, demand is growing much faster than available resources. Communities across Canada are being asked to respond to record levels of homelessness with funding that does not reflect the scale of today's challenge. The Parliamentary Budget Officer has identified an annual funding gap of approximately $3.5 billion in Canada's homelessness response system. Municipalities are making up that gap, and we see the consequences of that gap every day: shelters operating beyond capacity, growing encampments, overstretched outreach services and vulnerable Canadians unable to access the supports they need.
FCM is calling on Ottawa not only to renew Reaching Home, but also to make it a permanent and expanded pillar of Canada's homelessness response.
Municipalities are ready to work in partnership with the federal government to achieve results, but to do so, they need predictable, long-term funding. If we allow this program to expire and don't adapt it to the scale of the realities we're facing on the ground, the pressure on our communities will increase.
Let's not wait until we reach the point of no return. Homelessness is one of the main social challenges in Canada. Renewing Canada's national housing strategy presents a rare opportunity to strengthen partnerships between different levels of government, invest in homelessness prevention and expand solutions with a “housing first” approach.
Let's work together to ensure that everyone in Canada has access to safe and affordable housing.
FCM stands ready to work with the federal government, provinces, territories, indigenous partners and community organizations to achieve that goal.
I look forward to answering your questions.
Thank you. Meegwetch.