Thank you very much.
Good morning, Mr. Chair and members of the committee. Thank you for inviting me to appear today. I'm sorry I can't be there in person.
My name is Gary Gladstone. I am chair of the Intentional Community Consortium, or ICC. The ICC is a national coalition of more than 80 non-profit organizations working to expand affordable, accessible and supportive housing for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities across Canada. I am also the lead on stakeholder relations for Reena, one of Ontario's largest developmental service organizations.
Today I would like to make a simple point: Canada cannot solve homelessness without addressing the housing needs of people with developmental disabilities. For years, ICC and our members have advocated that people with developmental disabilities must remain a distinct priority within federal housing policy.
Recent research now demonstrates why. A major Ontario study led by Dr. Sylvain Roy examined more than 2,000 individuals in shelters and found that developmental disabilities are significantly overrepresented and frequently hidden within the homelessness system. The most defensible estimate is that between 13% and 15% of shelter residents have a developmental disability, with prevalence potentially as high as 25%. The study also found that approximately 80% of these individuals experience chronic homelessness. Many have never been properly identified. Many are disconnected from developmental services. Many are living in shelters because there's simply nowhere else for them to go.
What is particularly important for this committee to understand is that this is not simply an affordability issue. The research found that approximately 60% of individuals with developmental disabilities in shelters require high-intensity housing supports. Many are unable to successfully maintain housing without assistance in navigating daily living, finances, appointments, health care and community supports. The problem is not simply a lack of housing; it is a lack of the right housing. The report concludes that the issue is not a lack of need. It is a lack of identification, coordination and appropriate housing pathways.
This confirms what our sector has known for years: Homelessness for many individuals with developmental disabilities is not primarily an affordability problem; it is a supportability problem. People are being placed into housing systems that assume a level of independence that they do not have. The research found that nearly 60% of individuals with developmental disabilities in shelters require high-intensity housing supports. Without supportive housing, many cycle repeatedly through shelters, hospitals, crisis services, emergency rooms, policing interactions and inappropriate institutional settings.
The federal government recognized this reality under the original national housing strategy, following advocacy by ICC and others, by identifying people with developmental disabilities as a priority population and committing to 2,400 housing units. Unfortunately, fewer than 900 of these units have been delivered. As Canada develops the national housing strategy 2.0, this population must not disappear from federal priorities.
ICC is recommending five actions.
First, people with developmental disabilities must remain an explicit population within the national housing strategy 2.0, with a commitment to create, preserve or acquire at least 3,000 additional affordable, accessible and supportive homes by 2031.
Second, the federal government should establish a dedicated funding stream of at least $1 billion over five years for supportive housing serving this population.
Third, Build Canada Homes and future housing programs should support portfolio-based delivery models through organizations such as ICC that can aggregate projects and help smaller agencies succeed.
Fourth, federally funded supportive housing should incorporate appropriate care occupancy, B3 fire code, and universal accessibility standards from the outset.
Fifth, housing benefits and long-term operating supports must be expanded to ensure affordability and sustainability.
The solution to homelessness is not simply more housing; it is the right housing. Across Canada, ICC members are already building that housing. The Lou Fruitman Reena Residence, the Frankfort Family Reena Residence and projects being developed across the country by ICC members such as KW Habilitation demonstrate that supportive, inclusive and intentional community models work.
The projects exist. The expertise exists. The partnerships exist. What is needed now is a federal commitment to ensure that people with developmental disabilities are fully included in Canada's homelessness and housing strategies. If one in every six to eight shelter residents has a developmental disability, then reducing homelessness requires addressing developmental disability housing.
Thank you very much.