Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to participate in your study.
My name is Annie Savage. I am here on behalf of Réseau d'aide aux personnes seules et itinérantes de Montréal, or RAPSIM for short. We are an umbrella organization that brings together 99 agencies working to prevent and reduce homelessness in Montreal.
RAPSIM's main message today is simple: The fight against homelessness can't be reduced to a housing strategy. It requires a comprehensive response, one that addresses housing, social determinants, community care and stable community-based intervention all at the same time.
The federal government must significantly increase its homelessness investments. Further to the Reaching Home call for proposals for 2026‑28 funding, more than 204 high-priority projects in Montreal, totalling over $304 million, were submitted for consideration. The funding requested was nearly four times what was available. Just 69 projects were renewed and funded. Because of this underfunding, supports were cut, and the toll on the ground is significant. Homelessness groups need funding agreements that cover at least five years, so they can improve services and plan for the future. What's more, that funding needs to be indexed annually.
The federal government needs to take a broader approach to prevention, one that addresses the full range of social determinants. Pathways to homelessness are seldom the result of a single event. Poverty, health problems, housing loss, violence, social isolation and precarious immigration status all play a role. Preventing homelessness and addressing its impacts are not competing interests. The government mustn't pit those investments against one another. Investments in both are necessary and complementary.
Our third point concerns housing. RAPSIM advocates for the right to housing, a crucial part of a real alternative to living on the street. However, community-based initiatives are just as necessary to reach people who still don't have access to housing, aren't able to access immediate housing or are at risk of losing their housing. Pathways into stable housing aren't linear. Investments in housing and community services must continue in tandem, so that those living on the street have a way out, and the necessary supports to keep them from living there permanently or going back.
The federal government has an important role to play in supporting the development of integrated community-based care and better alignment between homelessness, mental health, addiction, housing and immigration supports. People experiencing homelessness are dealing with multiple challenges at the same time. Often, they are coping with the consequences of complex trauma and repeat violence before and while being unhoused. These experiences contribute to declining health and make it harder for people to overcome homelessness permanently when care is not responsive to their needs.
Lastly, I want to draw the committee's attention to the need for emergency support. Last winter in Montreal, more than 900 temporary emergency spaces had to be added to keep alive those who call the street home. This necessary support requires appropriate planning and dedicated resources, separate from the funding for ongoing community-based services. The current crisis is not the result of a lack of community expertise or involvement. It is the result of an unprecedented gap between the needs on the ground and the resources available. Beyond housing, the federal government needs to address homelessness in a comprehensive way, one that provides lasting solutions tailored to communities' needs.
Thank you.